As the trees begin to fill in the Viper Tube lattice, the structure will come to life. The construction story has been actively documented on the newnatures_buffalo Instagram feed, and has already been excitedly received by the public. Now that the foundation and structure are in place, the next step is planting and training the willows. To ensure everyone’s safety, students followed all UB health and safety guidelines, and worked in separate teams, alternating days at Silo City. In the Fall of 2020, a third studio, taught by assistant professor of architecture Nicholas Rajkovich, students began fabricating and assembling pieces on-site.

When campus facilities were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the studio took what they had learned from their experimentation and applied those lessons to a new project of producing construction documents and detailed shop drawings that could be handed down to another studio once it was safe for students to gather outdoors to work on-site at Silo City. One bending method was a manually operated Conduit Bender, which makes it difficult to achieve the accuracy of a digitally operated machine. The tubing is not typically used for structure, leaving room for exploration on the best way to bend and connect the donated pieces. This studio, taught by associate professor and associate chair of architecture Joyce Hwang, began with an offer from Rigidized Metals to donate excess Viper Tube pieces for a design-build installation. The following semester, in the Spring of 2020, began with many iterations of testing in the workshop to experiment with fabrication and construction methods. This project began in Fall 2019, with a studio co-taught by former associate professor of architecture Laura Garofalo, in which students made proposals for a structure that would help eradicate invasive species at Silo City, and add to the natural and cultural regeneration happening in the industrial landscape. Vendors set up shop between the grain elevators from 9am to 4pm on various Sundays throughout the summer (June 21, July 19, Aug 2, Sept 6). Community members can help train the willows and learn about composting systems. Book Here: Grounded Silo Fleas Multiple times this summer The Silo Fleas is Buffalo’s very own flea market, complete with 30 vendors, food trucks and the perfect setting Silo City. Lawrence Seaway’s easing of commercial transportation in and. The interior becomes a gathering space and an educational opportunity for earning about ecology and the current regenerative efforts. The construction of Silo City’s American Grain Elevator in 1906 was the first pouring of monolithic concrete in the country.

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