Walking over from the Cape Town Cruise Terminal, at the end of a street of new shops in the Silo District, we got our first glimpse of the Silo Hotel, adjacent to the renovated and redesigned concrete grain silo structure that is now the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
As noted in our previous blog post [“Cape Town, South Africa (2018)”], Cape Town is well known as a center of human creativity – “it’s one of the things that made the city a World Design Capital in 2014”. Over the past decade there has been a burst of new construction with some really innovative architectural designs. One of the most interesting renovation/repurposing projects occurred adjacent to the V&A Harbor (where we were docked) – the combined Silo Hotel and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. The two buildings arose out of an abandoned old concrete Grain Silo, dating back to 1921 (decommissioned in 2001) at the waterfront. The “carving” away of the interior of some of the vertical, cylindrical concrete silos to open up most of the center of the structure for the museum is an act of architectural genius, as you’ll see in the photographs, below. The Silo Hotel was reconstructed with glass façades on the upper floors, matching the new upper story of the new museum building. It was a thrill touring the building, before even getting into the Museum’s permanent collection exhibitions and temporary exhibition (of art from young artists from Zimbabwe) where we were absorbed for several hours.
Water sports in the canal adjacent to the Silo District in the shadow of contemporary new office buildiings, Cape Town, South Africa
Two modern sculptures of contrasting materials and completely different designs in the Silo District, Cape Town, South Africa
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa makes up the left portion of the former Grain Silo with the Silo Hotel having been constructed in the rectangular section on the right, with striking, all new glass enclosures on the upper floors (matching the upper floor of the museum), Cape Town, South Africa
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa is a contemporary art museum located at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa. It is the largest art museum in Africa and the largest museum of contemporary African art in the world. The museum opened on September 22, 2017. According to their web site, “Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a public not-for-profit contemporary art museum which collects, preserves, researches, and exhibits twenty-first century art from Africa and its Diaspora; hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational and enrichment programmes; encourages intercultural understanding; and guarantees access for all. Over one hundred galleries, spread over nine floors, are dedicated to a large cutting edge permanent collection; temporary exhibitions; and Centres for Art Education, Curatorial Excellence, Performative Practice, Photography, the Moving Image, and the Costume Institute.”
An interior view of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa showing how the vertical cylindrical concrete grain silos were “sliced” to create spectacular skylights for the museum entry and lobby, Cape Town, South Africa
The upper sections of three old concrete grain silos visible across the patio of the rooftop sculpture garden at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
A partial reflection of one of the old concrete grain silos on the patio of the rooftop sculpture garden at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
New glass enclosures on the Silo Hotel, adjacent to (and photographed from) Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
Looking straight up to the rooftop sculpture garden and the “skylight” sections of carved out former concrete grain silos at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
Two elevators and a spiral staircase were installed in three partially carved out old concrete grain silos at the edge of the lobby of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
A close-up of the rooftop skylight” sections of carved out former concrete grain silos at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
Silo grain chutes and control valves dating back to the construction of the old Grain Silo in 1921 are preserved in the basement of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
Moët & Chandon (one of the world’s largest Champagne producers and a prominent Champagne house from France) erected an advertising “Merry Christmas” tree out of empty Champagne bottles just outside Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in the Silo District of Cape Town, South Africa
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