Constructed in 1923, the former grain silo became derelict in the 1990s. (Right) The Zwarte (Black) silo has a distinctive dark exterior due to its bitumen coating and stands imposingly beside Deventer harbour. Bulging pillowed glass windows, inspired by the shape of grain, offer far-reaching panoramas. Many original features, including 42 cylindrical storage silos, have been retained. The six floors over the museum hold The Royal Portfolio’s Silo hotel. Formerly the tallest building in the city, the silo now holds the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, South Africa’s largest art gallery. (Above) Heatherwick Studio from London has achieved a remarkable hotel in a 1920s grain silo set on Cape Town’s waterfront. THOMAS HEATHERWICK | Cape Town, South Africa Image (below) courtesy of The Royal Portfolio | Photography by Iwan Baan. Images (main and left) courtesy of COBE Architects | Photography by Rasmus Hjortshøj of COAST Studio. Internally, many of the 38 single and multi-level apartments retain raw concrete while floor-to-ceiling windows offer panoramic views. The recladding of the concrete exterior has updated its appearance with galvanised steel patinating over time while maintaining an essential link with the silo’s past. The enormous post-industrial development is currently being transformed into a new district for the city and Danish architects COBE were tasked with reworking the soaring silo. (Above, and left) This 17-storey old grain silo is the largest building standing in Copenhagen’s Nordhavn (North Harbour). And so silos become new focal points defining their districts and honouring local heritage for decades to come. Cultural venues use the dramatic proportions, while design-conscious homeowners embrace the epitome of urban living. Where grain was once weighed, cleaned and stored, communities and visitors can gather, homeowners can now set up house. Most storage silos are windowless towers and only have ground floors. The spatial variations mean these projects are particularly challenging. City officials and developers have had to be brave and bold converting these soaring structures. But as fortunes and industries changed, many silos fell into disrepair and dereliction. Those silos to which Corbusier referred then were most likely constructed in steel and concrete and it is for this reason that so many survive today. magnificent first-fruits of the new age.” As testaments to a bygone era, these utilitarian structures continue to be worthy of our full admiration. In 1923, Le Corbusier noted, “Thus we have the American grain elevators and factories.
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