Serweta Peck is transforming the historic canal building into a versatile art center
Serweta Peck’s Medina Triennial Hub is an adaptive reuse interior renovation of a landmark building at the headquarters of an inaugural art triennial. It is located along the Erie Canal in the village of Medina, halfway between the cities of Buffalo and Rochester in the New York State, the Hub is part of a larger arts initiative to revitalize Rust Belt cities along the canal as a joint commission by Medina Triennial 2026, the New York City Power Authority (NYPA) and the Canal Corporation. During the triennial, the Hub serves as the Triennial’s “living room” for community gatherings, artist workshops, talks, and screenings, as well as providing an anchor point for visitors, staff, and artists-in-residence.
Serweta Peck worked with SUNY Buffalo architecture students to design and build all of the furniture with local and reused materials in response to the triennial theme of conservation and sustainability. Through hands-on research, collaborative discussions, experimentation, prototyping and construction, the project team created a family flexible pieces (called “Objects Of Affection”) that can be adapted to a wide variety of activities and programming. Inspired by humble, everyday materials as well as Enzo Mari’s Autoprogettazione, which involved DIY furniture making from ubiquitous materials, the team used unconventional and sustainable materials and processes as a means to challenge typical two/three year design/build/trash rules.
view from the entrance of the Medina Triennial Hub during the opening of | all images © Douglas Liver
Repurposed Teal materials and elements connect the Hub to the canal
The resulting objects include materials made from recycled wine corks cast in hydrochloric acid, insulating polystyrene foam salvaged from scraps of architectural student study models, wood scraps cast in bioresin, empty plotter paper tubes, laminated recycled cardboard, cut timber, a used second-hand solid core panel, a recycled panel from square panel. saved from the trash can. Most notably, NYPA donated seven pieces of 200-year-old old ironwood, each 17 feet long and weighing 850 pounds, that were previously sunk as part of the construction of the Erie Canal lock system.
All salvaged timber was processed for use by the project team at the university’s construction facilities. The natural knots, cracks and imperfections of the wood were characterized as details and minimally repaired in the spirit of kintsugi using bio-resin and sawdust. The interior architecture was stripped down to its fundamental elements, exposing the previously clad metalwork and masonry while retaining the original tin roof. The new color palette of the Hub’s floor, walls and columns was inspired by historic postcards of the Erie Canal and was painted with a teal epoxy “water line” to evoke the waters of the nearby canal through its lock system, providing a unifying ground to connect the disparate furniture items.
sunset lighting up the back of the Hub, reflective on the teal epoxy floor
The Hub, which opened in September 2025 for community engagement, is set to be fully activated from June to September 2026 as part of the Medina Triennial, which brings together artists and collectives from around the world to create site-responsive artworks and participatory public programs. After the three-year period, the items will be auctioned, sold, given away, relocated and then re-used or they can be disassembled and recycled responsibly and respectfully.
“Modulation Stools”, “Side Hustle Stools”, “Pocket Stools” and “Nesting Tables” define the gathering space
