ART AND CULTURE GIVE OLD INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES A NEW LIFE
Posted by heritageinaction on April 16, 2012 · source : Claudia Brose
An example of how the German coal mine complex in Essen/North Rhine Westphalia managed this challenge is described on our blog today.
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Old industrial complexes and art have a history of attracting each other. Many abandoned former manufacturing sites, plants and factories often get taken over by artists, musicians and the like. These sites not only offer an unusual setting, they draw attention that triggers the imagination and asks, “what was going on here before?”.
Over the course of the past year I visited a few “re-purposed” historic industrial places in Germany that I want to share with you. All of them gained a new life through restoration and preservation efforts and are today re-used as cultural centers (museum, art or event space). And the stories from their pasts became part of the new cultural experience.
The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen (Germany) is a restored infrastructure of a historical coal-mine originally founded in 1847. The entire complex would later develop and expand to include 20th century buildings of architectural significance, as well.
Upon the coal mine’s closure in the 1980’s a controversy about its future sparked: should it be completely cleared from the urban landscape, or should it be preserved (at least partially) as a testimony to its distinctive industrial architecture and a new usage considered?
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Voir aussi : Location: http://www.zollverein.de/english