WELTKULTURERBE ZOLLVEREIN

Located in Essen, Weltkulturerbe Zollverein is a re-purposed coal mine. As a coal mine it ran until 1986, before it was closed down. The original project to rework the coal mine was put into motion after the mines closing. The insperation to generate a park came after they placed a sculpture on the site and observed the influence it had. It cause people to view the site in a different way, and untimely lead to the realization of the sites full potential.

The design you will see today is the result of three different proposals, each one was developed and built on the next. The final masterplan included a blending of the overall site, and stronger landscape identity. Much of their thought and upkeep of the site has to do with letting it develop on its own with small design implementation.

The overall site is split into 4 sections. The Cooking Plant, Shaft 1/2/8, Shaft Xll, and Spoil Tip. Each one has been developed in phases, this is due to the sites pollutant potential. Before any work could be done, they had to renovate and remove all threats that were created for the sites coal mining period. This is also a reason for the sites constant development and construction even today, but much of the site is open and established for public use. They have a variety of programming options such as swimming, seasonal ice skating, etc.

On my visit to the site I appreciated the attention to the past pollutants remaining on site. I know that a lot of development projects such as this take a lot of money and effort before anyone sees any real change, so it is always refreshing to see something like this being carried through by public funding. I would defiantly like to return to the site one day to see what it has become, the beauty of a site like this is that it is always changing.

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