Angra360º - Repurposing an Abandoned Silo and Granary in the Azores

Louis-Pierre Bélec is a graduate of the Waterloo Architecture BAS program, and an incoming masters student. His thesis research has taken him to the Azores, where he has been documenting abandoned buildings and, as shown here, designing very successful competition entries. Images are by Louis-Pierre; text by Louis-Pierre and Sean Maciel.

The silos, taken from São Sebastião Fortification

Labjovem is a biennial competition that happens in the Azores, promoted by the Direção Regional da Juventude and organized by the Associação Cultural Burra de Milho, that seeks to promote and incentivize the work of young creative minds from different cultural areas, serving as a platform for a new generation of Azorean artists and as a space to exhibit selected projects.

The Angra360º project, which was awarded second place in the 5^th edition of the Labjovem Competition, will be showcased in exhibitions on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Faial, as well as in Lisbon and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival throughout 2016.

Located midway across the Atlantic, the Azores archipelago consists of nine islands scattered across 600 km of ocean. Volcanic in origin and rich in both native ecology and agricultural land, the islands have a unique geography and history. Since their initial settlement by Portuguese explorers in the early 15^th century, they provided a pivotal midpoint for oceanic travel, as well as a home for a growing mix of residents perpetually working to overcome the hardships of island life. The Azores have developed a number of agricultural and economic foci over the centuries, largely based on the external whims of Europe: the age of wheat leading to the ages of corn, of orange, of whaling.

During the last 50 years the Azores have witnessed great progress and experienced great losses, hand-in-hand. The mid-twentieth century saw the beginnings of modernisation, alongside mass emigration to the United States and Canada. Following the 2008 economic downturn, the entire nation of Portugal has faced arrested development with stalled projects and rampant unemployment. All of these factors have contributed to the epidemic of abandoned architecture that has emerged within the country.

Existing conditions of the top room on the 01_Silo complex.

The SiloTer silo and granary complex is located in the periphery of the city of Angra do Heroísmo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, on Terceira Island. The silos and granaries have been abandoned for the past decade and are today the property of the Santander Totta Bank. The Angra360º project proposes a reactivation of the site and an exploration of the potential for the buildings, as a part of the collective architectonic memory of Angra, to act as “objet trouvé” components in the redevelopment process .

The Angra360º project has two priorities: to rehabilitate and convert the spaces, preserving their historic and iconic value for the city, while leveraging the structures to house mixed-use program. The granaries will offer hostel, museum and community spaces, while the silos will provide an exciting and iconic way to experience the city and its surroundings.

Rehabilitated granaries with silos in rear

Existing silo structures

Left: Rehabilitated interior space of the 02_Silo complex. Right: exterior surface

Granaries rehabilitated into industrial museum and hostel

Left: Hostel common space with rooms above. Right: Hostel exterior

View from the new exterior balconies towards Monte Brasil

Angra360º looks to revitalize its site and immediate surroundings while respecting the architectonic potential of the existing structure. The project emphasizes simple interventions appropriate to the social and economic conditions of Terceira Island. The rigorous analysis and propositions made by the Angra360º project contribute to the contemporary architectural discourse on uninhabited and abandoned architecture in Portugal and, more precisely, on conditions specific to the Azores.

You can view the complete competition entry panels for Angra360º here.

The survey documentation of the abandoned complex can also be viewed.