Stefanos Kouratzis
Photography
SOPAZ Requiem
How does it feel when one walks in an abandoned complex of buildings that used to provide so much in the local economy and agriculture? How a building that was built by one the most prominent figures of the Cypriot Modernism Architecture, architect Stavros Economou, is left unattended to rot and become a health and safety hazard site?
The SOPAZ (The Cooperative Food Production Organisation) was established in 1961 and was producing compound animal feed. It was permanently closed down in 2015 when a fire broke at the power distribution panel.
For the last nearly 5 years, the SOPAZ buildings complex plus a fair piece of land, belongs to the Nicosia Municipality. Till now, nothing has been officially announced regarding the future of the complex or the area in general. Thoughts on converting it to an academic facility or an artist’s community have been heard but nothing is certain yet.
Once it was vibrant. Today it is a lifeless complex of buildings that only houses pigeons, mice, lizards and remains of a truly productive past.
The SOPAZ (The Cooperative Food Production Organisation) was established in 1961 and was producing compound animal feed. It was permanently closed down in 2015 when a fire broke at the power distribution panel.
When the cement was still fresh as SOPAZ, several pigeons left their footprints
On the last floor of one of the buildings
They were sending animal feed ingredients to the conveyor belts
On this belt animal feed ingredients was carried
Tubes run the entire building as they were carrying animal feed ingredients
Covered in dust for many years
Old machinery is still there covered with dust and spider web
A spider used this old worker's glove as a nest
A pigeon's carcase inside the factory