The Urban Design Project Grain Elevator Project [header images/logo]

A Public Conversation

Acts of preservation begin with talk - about the meaning and value of the objects in question and about the possibilities for their future use. Some of the elevators will remain as functioning industrial structures. All may provide a destination for heritage tourism. We will structure a broad and stimulating public conversation about the grain elevators as one of the first steps to secure their future. This aspect of the overall project on Buffalo's Grain Elevators is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and managed by the Urban Design Project, School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. The program will span nearly two years and includes research commissions, a publication, a symposium and guest lecturers, and the staging of major public events to draw attention to the elevators.

Research

We will commission two pieces of research: an examination of the grain elevators as works of industrial architecture, building on the late University at Buffalo Professor Peter Reyner Banham's book, A Concrete Atlantis; and an inquiry into the social and cultural history of the grain industry as a central element in the life of 20th century industrial communities. This work will be presented at a symposium to be held in 2002 where guest lecturers will join our commissioned scholars.

Events

We will co-sponsor at least two events at or near the elevators. The first, "Lighting the Grain Elevator Using Solar Technology," took place last summer and was co-sponsored with the Women's Pavilion Pan Am 2001. The second will be held this year, and currently we are exploring a partnership with Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center to co-host the 2002 Artists and Models Show at an elevator site.

Publication

A high-quality publication will capture and carry forward all the work on the grain elevators, including the two commissioned monographs, the guest lectures, the scholarly work prepared in conjunction with the historic nominations, and other textual and graphic documentation of the elevators, including a record of the two public events.