Grain Palace

Grain Palace is an experimental project which tries to extend the domain of architectural space by providing a tension between the monolithic conception of the silo and construction. It challenges the interfaces inside and outside silo with an architecture which covers consciousness, transforms image & mutates ideology of Ukrainian memory of grain.

Ukraine has a history of abundant grain production, a supply that historically exceeded the demand of its population. The decrease in Mesopotamian production, once known as the ‘golden crescent’, turns attention back to the rising importance and significance of Ukraine in particular for global food security, as acknowledged at the 2016 II World Grain Forum.\nThe project studied at Kyiv, developed the theme of a sustainable food secure future through the design of a ‘Grain Palace’, consisting of a tripartite architectural program: A Grain Research Institute addressing factors influencing food insecurity through the study and research of science-based technological innovations; a Seed Gene Bank that ensures the preservation of crop diversity, protection from climate change, natural disasters and crop diseases that may lead to the extinction of some species, and providing as well for seed material for research; and a Grain Museum, with permanent and temporary exhibits.\nThis project is a process of exploring and refining experimental techniques in architectural geometry and space. Specifically the notion of the debris of grain silo taken into the process, which is a problematic element in the site, in terms of function and scale. Rather than aggregations and assemblages of an obsolete silo, project reconsiders the debris by extending its fragments along the site, blend its scale and establishes a relationship between mass, interior and surface articulation, tectonic assembly and building envelope by creating a threshold zone with site and grain silo. The demolished grain silo transformed into an architectural space by keeping the debris and creating a unique architectural language which considers ruin as a spatial input for design.\nThe scale of the building not only provides a tension between the monolithic conception of the silo and assembled construction but also challenges the interfaces inside and outside silo with an architecture which covers consciousness, transforms image & mutates ideology of Ukrainian memory of grain.