The Living

David Benjamin and Soo-in Yang created The Living in 2004. The practice emphasizes open-source research and design, seeking collaboration both within and outside the field of architecture, and viewing each project as part of larger threads of experimentation and construction. Work by The Living has been exhibited at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the Innovation Lab in Copenhagen; has received the New York Prize Fellowship from the Van Alen Insitute in 2007, the Young Architects Forum prize in 2006, three separate finalist prizes from the Metropolis Magazine Next Generation Design competition; and has appeared in many publications, including Life Size (Columbia Books of Architecture, 2007), a non-monograph about the firm's work, and Transmaterial (Princeton Architectural Press, 2006). Benjamin graduated from Harvard with a BA in Social Studies and played in the rock band Push Kings. Yang graduated from Yonsei University with a BE in Architectural Engineering and managed the construction of apartment complexes in Seoul. Benjamin and Yang both received Master of Architecture degrees from Columbia University. They currently teach at Pratt Institute and at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where they are co-directors of the Living Architecture Lab.