![]() The construction of Silo City’s American Grain Elevator in 1906 was the first pouring of monolithic concrete in the country. The geographically advantageous location by Niagara Falls and the Erie Canal helped Buffalo become the first American city with widespread electricity-this prompted the construction of groundbreaking architecture. When Silo City was built in 1906 during Buffalo’s heyday as a grain port and flour milling hub of the American Malting Corporation, the city prospered to unparalleled wealth. Sitting on the edge of Lake Erie, the six-part campus of dwarfing concrete silos rise from the ground like towers of a dystopian landscape. “For my father’s generation, Silo City was a symbol of failure and bad decisions, but young people are in awe of its magnificence-their new eyes see its potential,” says Rick Smith, a Buffalo local who purchased the city’s iconic defunct grain elevator compound in 2006. for many, the poetic scattering of mammoth abandoned structures across vast urban landscapes translates to sculptural grandiosity and important glimpses into the past. Whether it be Detroit, Cleveland, or Buffalo, the relics of bygone prosperity and gilded hedonism have long charmed today’s architecture buffs. This week's reprint from Metropolis explores the ongoing renovation and transformation of an iconic site in Buffalo, Silo City, in order to create ambitious residential and public projects.Įnough time has passed to revisit the infrastructure of the American Rust Belt. Silo City is a one-year project with the Center for Art and Urbanistics which runs until July 31, 2014. The goal was to “look at the standard way of living from a different angle,” said Körbes. It acts as an ‘urban parasite’ to the Center for Art and Urbanistics building, connected for electricity and extra water. “I can go autonomous with my solar panels but when next to city infrastructure it is much more logical and challenging to attach to and parasite the existing city systems,” he said. To the right, drawers from old desks make a new makeshift closet.īut the silo house is not entirely independent. The sleeping area is crowned by a skylight from a plastic factory that went bankrupt and over to the left, there’s a small desk where Körbes’ daughter draws and does homework. The second floor is accessed with recycled climbing grips. “The urine gets filtered by a plant system and the excrement gets collected and dried from compost,” said Körbes. A special toilet in a separate room separates urine and excrement. Down a ladder to the basement, you find the water tanks holding Körbes's supply. It operates on five liters of circulated water mixed with rainwater, while 80 liters of drinking water is added to the supply every two weeks. The shower is tucked away in what looks like a closet. The interior is largely furnished by recycled items. Almost everything is recycled, including the water. ![]() The ceiling has a camera, pointed below, which documents life in the silo (parties, events and construction). All around, there are shelves made from fridge doors, a stovetop hotplate from a British ship, and a wood oven burning collected waste. Underneath the kitchen table is a heated bathtub to warm your feet. The kitchen floor is made from recycled cork, while the windows are odd shaped ones that were never used. The wood is sourced from construction sites or wood benches. The house is insulated by “a thermo sandwich,” as Körbes calls it, about seven centimeters thick and filled with recycled paper, aluminum heat reflector foil, wood, and polyester. In a house with no corners, things are built into the walls and floors. Just up the old scaffolding stairs and inside the 13 square meter space, everything in the silo is cleverly organized. “It's an approach to a different kind of living,” Körbes said. The silo came in from the Netherlands and was installed by crane.
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