Industrial heritage is an important part of human historical and cultural heritage. In the post-industrial era, the protection, transformation and reuse of industrial heritage has become a common topic for all countries. Through innovation and transformation, industrial integration and development, some industrial heritages show new vitality in the transformation.
Customs Union Coal Mine Industrial Zone—
Show industrial charm and lead the trend of transformation
Our reporter Li Qiang
On the outskirts of Essen, Ruhr-gebiet, there is a huge red brick building complex. This is a world-famous industrial and cultural heritage-customs union coal mine industrial zone, which was included in the world cultural heritage list by UNESCO in 2001.
Just after driving off the expressway, you can see the No.12 mine tower, which is known as the “Eiffel Tower in Ruhr”. This landmark building, together with the dense freight tracks on the ground and the coal conveyor belt that shuttles in the air, outlines the prosperous era of industrial civilization.
The customs union coal mine, which was founded in 1847, was once the largest and most technologically advanced coal production base in Europe, and finally stopped operating in 1986 due to industrial transformation. The whole mining area is famous for its exquisite architecture and is known as “the most beautiful coal mine in the world”.
“The Customs Union Industrial Zone completely retains the infrastructure used in the history of the coal mine, and some 20th century buildings also show outstanding architectural value. The landscape of the industrial zone has witnessed the rise and decline of China Coal Mining as a local pillar industry in the past 150 years. ” The UNESCO World Heritage Committee commented on this.
Today, the customs union coal mine industrial zone attracts more than 1.5 million visitors every year. They came to visit, not just to mourn abandoned factories and mines. After more than 30 years of transformation and development, the industrial zone now has two world-class museums, an art center, an industrial theme hotel, a number of creative shops and restaurants, and the outdoor space is shaded by trees, which perfectly fits with industrial relics and becomes a popular local theme park.
“Promoting protection through transformation has always been our motto. It has also created diversified products that combine history, culture, creativity, entertainment and food. ” Delia Bosh, a spokesperson for the Customs Union Foundation, said.
Boarding the longest 55-meter outdoor escalator in Germany, the reporter came to the entrance of the Ruhr Museum, 24 meters above the ground. At that time, coal was transported here along the conveyor belt and then separated by gravity. By designing the tour route in this way, visitors can experience the charm of industrial civilization as soon as they enter the museum. This historical museum, which was transformed from a coal washing plant, was designed by rem koolhass, a famous Dutch architect. The main body of the building retained its original historical appearance, and the coal screening equipment was transformed into a showcase. More than 6,000 exhibits systematically showed how coal was formed 300 million years ago and the long process of Ruhr-gebiet’s transformation.
Opposite the Ruhr Museum, it was changed by the boiler workshop..The Red Dot Design Museum is the masterpiece of another international architect, norman foster. The steel escalator transformed along the boiler pipeline displays more than 2,000 pieces of industrial design consumer goods: motorcycles, kitchen appliances, bathroom products, pots and pans, etc. The Red Dot Award, founded in Germany in 1955, is now one of the most famous awards in the field of global industrial design, and the annual award ceremony held here is a grand event in the field of industrial design.
Walking out of the Red Dot Museum, along the mining railway journey to the south, you will come to the PACT Art Center. This two-and-a-half-story auditorium building, once a bathhouse and laundry room for coal miners, has now been transformed into a performance space and a small studio for artists from all over the world to enter and create. Although the coal dust of the industrial age has long faded here, the room still retains white tiles and shower heads, making it a temple integrating dance, performance, drama, multimedia and visual arts.
From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, a series of activities such as Ruhr Industrial Culture Festival, Media Art Exhibition, Modern Art Festival, International Culture Festival and Metropolis Food Festival are held here one after another. The main theme of the customs union coal mine has also changed from the roar of machines to the concerto of art and tourism.
In fact, since the coal mine was officially closed in 1986, the government decided not to demolish this place, but there was no idea of how to protect and develop it. People simply can’t imagine that it will become a tourist attraction in the future. The Emscher Park International Architecture Exhibition, which started in 1989, provided an important opportunity for the transformation and development of the Customs Union coal mine. Through the international architecture exhibition platform, the local government has collected the ideas of global architects, planners and landscape architects, seeking new development direction for Ruhr-gebiet. 117 development projects, covering industrial landscape restoration, reuse of abandoned industrial facilities, river green space improvement and many other aspects.
In the following decades, the customs union coal mine, as one of the key projects of the local government, became a model for the transformation and development of Ruhr-gebiet. Ruhr District was awarded the title of “european capital of culture” in 2010 and “Green Capital of Europe” in 2017, among which the coal mine industrial zones of Customs Union were listed as classic cases.
Nowadays, some former mine workers have served as tour guides in the industrial zone, and visitors from all over the world share the past industrial glory here and the successful exploration of leading the transformation trend in the post-industrial era.
Walloon Mining Relics Group—
Preserving Cultural Memories and Turning into Tourism “Business Cards”
Our reporter Zhang Penghui
The Walloon region of Belgium is a traditional old industrial area. After the coal mine was abandoned, the Walloon mining relic group, which consists of Granhonu mining area, Bovadulruck mining area, Katzir mining area and Brenney mining area, successfully transformed into a representative place for Belgian to display industrial culture and modern art.
Billy.At that time, there was a long and narrow “industrial valley” in the southern Walloon region, where coal reserves were abundant. Since large-scale mining began in the 19th century, coal production once ranked among the top in Europe. Thanks to its rich resources and good location advantages, Walloon took the lead in opening the industrial revolution and was the first region in the European continent to realize industrialization as a whole. For a long time, heavy industries such as coal and steel have been the pillar industries of Walloon.
Since the middle of the last century, with the gradual depletion of coal resources, Walloon has begun a difficult road of transformation, and many factories have been abandoned or transformed. Until today, in many towns of Walloon, you can see coal mine workshops covered with weeds and rusty industrial machines. With the efforts of the local government, four mining sites, including the Granhonu mining area and the Bovaduluk mining area, have been completely preserved and listed in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. The organization commented: “They witnessed the technology of the early industrial revolution, recorded the development of the mining industry in continental Europe since the industrial revolution, and played an important demonstration and leading role in technology and society.”
At present, museums have been built in four sites of the Walloon Mining Relics Group, which are mainly divided into two categories: one is to show the working style and life scenes of coal workers in the industrial period, such as the Bovaduluk mining area and the Museum of Sustainable Development; Second, taking the Granhonu mining area as a representative, some original industrial remains will be preserved, and original buildings such as factory buildings will be fully utilized to transform them into new art museums and design spaces.
The museum of mining area and sustainable development in Bovaduluk is located between Mons and Charleroi in southern Belgium. The Bovaduluk mining area, which was completely shut down until the 1970s, has completely preserved the ground buildings and facilities such as mines, workshops and miners’ residential areas, as well as public facilities such as parks, hospitals and community centers. It is a veritable coal mining village. Wendy glasser, the director of the museum, told this reporter that the Bovaduluk Mining Area and the Museum of Sustainable Development are a museum integrating research, experience and exhibition. Visitors can experience the whole process of screening coal and miners, observe the real scenery of miners’ family life and understand the customs and habits at that time. The mine museum has preserved many old machines and files, which can be used by researchers to carry out on-the-spot investigations on technical history, social and cultural history and other related fields here. In order to spread the concept of green development, the museum was renamed in 2016, with emphasis on energy conservation, emission reduction and ecological protection.
In the courtyard of the museum, there are scattered machines left over. In the museum building group, the manager’s office, accounting office, infirmary, miner’s lamp distribution office, miner’s cleaning room, etc. have been completely preserved to this day. 166 sets of miners’ dormitories built in the mining area since the 19th century, except one set for exhibition, the rest are still in use. Glasser said: “The greatest value of the site of the Bovaduluk mining area is that it embodies coal..The industrial production mode and miners’ lifestyle have preserved the cultural memory of Walloon. With the economic transformation of Walloon, the value of industrial remains is more prominent. “
Granhonu mining area is known as “the treasure of European industrial heritage in the 19th century” and one of the most outstanding representatives of European neoclassical industrial heritage. Since 1990s, the huge workshop in the mining area has been renovated and transformed into a museum of contemporary art. Not long ago, the museum was holding two parallel exhibitions-“Plant Fever” and “John Muir Visual Art Exhibition”. The avant-garde contemporary art exhibits were in sharp contrast with the time-sensitive factory buildings.
Glasser said that the heritage of the industrial age has achieved a gorgeous turn, retaining the unique cultural memory of Walloon, and has become a “business card” for local tourists.
Pittsburgh industrial zone—
Develop waste factories and introduce high-tech industries.
Our reporter Wu Lejun
Monongahela Slope and Duquesne Slope on Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, USA, are two famous historical attractions in the city. The cable car tracks on the slopes were all built in the 1970s to transport coal. Nowadays, the cable car with wooden carriage shuttles up and down, which has the feeling of time and space crossing. Looking from the top of the mountain, Pittsburgh, an industrial city where the steel industry once flourished, has been transformed into a modern city.
Pittsburgh is located at the confluence of Ohio River, Allegheny River and Monongahela River. Because it is close to the Great Lakes, rich in coal and iron resources and convenient waterway conditions, it has an indissoluble bond with the iron and steel industry. In the mid-19th century, entrepreneur andrew carnegie established Carnegie Steel Company, which later developed into an American steel company. At that time, Pittsburgh’s steel output value once accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total steel output value of the United States. In addition, Alcoa, Westinghouse and other large enterprises will also be headquartered in Pittsburgh. Due to the long-term heavy industry as the pillar industry, the problems of serious local environmental pollution and single economic structure have become increasingly prominent. In the 1970s, steel overcapacity led to a large number of layoffs and factory closures.
Many people in Pittsburgh are worried that the traditional industrial culture here will also be in danger of disappearing. Pittsburgh has explored how to preserve the industrial heritage and its culture after the heavy industrial era has passed.
In 1996, the US Congress and Pennsylvania passed a bill to establish the “River of Steel” National Heritage Area. The national heritage area is centered on Pittsburgh and consists of heritage areas of 8 counties in southwest Pennsylvania.
In the “River of Steel” National Heritage Area, people can visit Pittsburgh and its nearby steel factory towns, learn about coal seam structure, experience steel transportation, and feel the once brilliant steel manufacturing story from different angles. These activities are managed and operated by the non-profit organization “Steel River Heritage Company”, and are in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources..Cooperation, by supporting industrial heritage tourism, creative site construction, outdoor entertainment, etc., to promote economic redevelopment and cultural cooperation and exchanges.
The local government has played an important role in the protection and reuse of industrial heritage. The “South Factory” is now a famous shopping center in Pittsburgh. From its name, you can feel the history of being a steel base in the past. In the mid-1990s, Pittsburgh Urban Planning Bureau bought this abandoned factory, jointly developed it with enterprises, and transformed it into a commercial leisure and entertainment center. Besides commercial, catering and entertainment facilities, it also built office buildings here to attract investment.
Another commercial district in Pittsburgh, Baking Plaza, was named after the American biscuit and snack food company Na Beske set up a factory here in 1918. In 1998, Na Beske closed the local factory, and the empty factory was left idle. In 2006, the Pittsburgh municipal government decided to transform the area into a high-tech industrial park to match the transformation and revitalization plan of the whole city. After the renovation, the Pittsburgh municipal government assisted the developers, vigorously introduced high-tech industries, and attracted institutions and enterprises such as the University of Pittsburgh and Google to set up research and development departments here one after another. According to the statistics of Pittsburgh Technical Committee, in 2014, the number of people employed in science, technology and R&D departments in Pittsburgh surpassed the steel industry for the first time. According to another data, there are more than 40% R&D jobs in Pittsburgh than manufacturing jobs.
Ricky Fitzgerald, the county magistrate of Allergan, where Pittsburgh is located, said: “Pittsburgh’s economy has successfully transformed from relying on steel manufacturing to innovation in high-tech, advanced manufacturing, energy, education and international tourism.”
Despite the successful transformation, steel has become a unique imprint of this city. The 256-meter-high American Steel Building is still one of the city landmarks. The historical heritages such as factories, warehouses and docks in the industrialized period have been protected and restored, and it has become a cultural place to show the unique history of the city.