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ARTECO Haydarpasa
Adaptive Reuse | Industrial Heritage | Urban Regeneration | Urban Farming | Modern Art Museum
The project explores the adaptive reuse of the Haydarpaşa grain silos in Istanbul, transforming an obsolete industrial infrastructure into a vertical farming landscape and speculative ecological future.
Originally designed for grain storage, the silos are reinterpreted as a vertical hydroponic farming structure where food production becomes integrated within architecture itself. The massive cylindrical volumes are converted into spaces of soil-less agriculture, shifting the silo from a passive storage system into a living infrastructure that actively produces food.
Alongside controlled agricultural production, the project also embraces the spontaneous growth of wild plants that naturally emerge within abandoned industrial structures. Vegetation appears through openings in the façade and along the roof level, where nature gradually begins to reclaim the building. Rather than eliminating this process, the proposal incorporates it as part of the architectural narrative.
The project therefore operates between two conditions: controlled agricultural production and uncontrolled ecological growth. This coexistence generates a spatial condition situated between utopia and dystopia, a speculative scenario exploring possible futures of urban ecology.
Beyond agricultural production, the silo complex becomes a hybrid cultural and ecological infrastructure within the city.
The proposal introduces a series of interconnected programs that activate the site as a public landscape:
Bike routes reconnecting the waterfront and the city
Bike dormitories supporting cycling mobility
A seed shop and agricultural workshop
A Farming Art Museum exploring the relationship between agriculture and culture
An eco restaurant and café using locally grown produce
A seed library and research archive
An ecological education institute
An integrated water treatment plant
Through this transformation, the Haydarpaşa silos evolve from industrial storage structures into a living system of production, culture, and ecological infrastructure. Architecture becomes a mediator between urban life, food production, and spontaneous nature.
