Thesis Project
Bachelor of Architecture
Rhode Island School of Design, 1986. |
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I have always been fascinated with industrial architecture.
Architecture as the machine.
The machine as architecture. |
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| Grain elevators are in many ways the epitome of industrial architecture; their forms purity of purpose, the whole structure functioning as a machine. The early proponents of modern architecture were inspired by the American grain elevators as the aesthetic they were searching for to express their new ideals. This was “form follows function” in its truest sense. |
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| Just as the modernist began with the grain elevators to give expression to the new materials and technologies made available through the industrial revolution, I started my quest to explore the new aesthetic of sustainable architecture with the same grain elevators. |
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| Buffalo, New York has the largest collection of grain elevators in the world. Along a few miles of the Buffalo River alone there are nearly twenty of the hulking monuments, all but a few abandoned. |
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| Building re-use is an important strategy of sustainability. Tremendous amounts of energy and resources can be conserved by not destroying a building just to create a new one in its place. |
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| This project explores the adaptive re-use of the Connecting Terminal, an abandoned grain elevator at the confluence of the Buffalo River and Lake Erie. The program calls for high density residential development with some basic services and a community center. |
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| The tendency with an adaption of this type of structure is to create round rooms within the silos. This approach has inherent problems and requires a more creative solution. I took an alternative approach that looked at the historical precedent of building on top of the ruins of previous civilizations. |
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| This project keeps the grain elevator intact and creates the new structure around and on top of it. The new structure consists of residential units with a second story loft. A dynamic atrium space is created between the new construction and the existing elevator. |
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| The silos serve as the core of the building, incorporating vertical circulation and storage. The larger silos, which were a later addition to the main structure, utilize a conveyor system to park vehicles. The ground level workhouse accommodates tenant services such as news and coffee. The community space is located in the upper workhouse. |
