What is AALTOSIILO?

The Silo offers an iconic space where sustainability, climate change and the mix between science and art have a role to play in the building’s legacy, enriching Aalto’s role as the human face of Modernism.

The project is divided into four major areas, with each phase designed to demonstrate the core principles - don’t tear down: re-invent; if you must tear down: re-use; and a catalyst of these two principles: re-vitalise.

the RENOVATION of the Silo. The Silo is a listed building, protected under the ‘SR-1 Nationally Important Protected Building’ classification in Finland. In 1931, the reinforced, cast-in-situ concrete structure, 28 metres high with walls 10cm thick, pushed engineering to its limit. Neglect, freezing temperatures and time have eroded and transformed the building, and Skene Catling de la Peña’s plans will work within the limits of a listed building, while at the same time approaching the Silo’s cultural and material context during the restoration.

Axonometric of the reinvented AaltoSiilo showing the new Sculptural Stair and Cabinet of Curiosity, the conveyor lift to the “Tar Bar” in the roof, and the main performance and event space. © Skene Catling de la Peña

Materials used in the resurrection of the building will have a direct relationship to the building’s former use, in an approach called ‘Material Resonance’: timber, woodchips, cellulose and tar will pay homage to Oulu’s past as the prime producer and exporter of these materials between the 16th and 19th century; concrete will be recast only around the reinforcement bars, while new solutions and materials are being researched to integrate and repair the rest of the structure.

CONSTRUCTION on the adjacent plot of a new building, the AaltoSiilo Annex

To reduce carbon emissions, a new approach to concrete re-use that is being pioneered by Skene Catling de la Peña and Factum Foundation, with the hope of applying it globally. The ‘Oulu Spolia Protocol’ involves identifying buildings scheduled for demolition and ‘surgically’ dismantling large pieces that can be reused in other constructions.

The Annex will house a community sauna (where the generated heat will be recycled through the building), an amphitheatre, a café and flexible exhibition space and a Research Center.

the CONTENT of the Silo: from woodchips to data

Oulu, being located on the edge of the Arctic Circle, is at a critical point in relation to climate change. Oulu is one of the major tech hubs in Finland and is home to a thriving university, offering an opportunity to creatively explore the sustainable preservation of built heritage and contribute new research to the current landscape of the city.

Therefore, the Research Center will focus its activities on recording, data collection and research on industrial heritage, environment and climate change, technology, Machine Learning (AI) and creative software design, and will become a unique space for collective and circular learning. This will not only turn into a one-of-a-kind knowledge hub in Oulu, but it will also position itself at the forefront of innovation in the conservation of post-industrial heritage on an international level.

and the SHARING of skills with the local community

Following Factum Foundation’s core principles on heritage preservation and data recording, the AaltoSiilo will work on building strong ties with the surrounding community: a sustainable approach to preservation benefits both the site and the people living around it.

The Silo, from its moniker as the ‘ugliest building in Oulu’ in 2019, aims to become a place where its exhibitions and events will be a source of pride, identity, and employment. Cultural events, performances and exhibitions held in the Silo and partner venues across Finland and Europe will focus on the role of art to reinvent industrial cultural heritage and transform a neglected part of a city on the frontline of climate change.

A building once conceived as part of an industrial process is being reimagined as a place for the people of Oulu, where the old ‘architectural choreography’ of the woodchips will instead bring visitors through an exhibition space focused on contemporary art and performance, a café and working spaces, up to the highest, narrowest point of the structure where a Tar Bar will overlook the city.