Post - industrial cities have long struggled to find unexampled uses for the ( often gargantuan ) factory base that once made their towns boom . normally , that think of a parking area or a museum . But a few city — like Genk , Belgium — have strain a more data-based approach , twist these decrepit situation into unusual creative space .
The Winterslag mine is on the eastern margin of Belgium and Germany in Genk , where coal was divulge at the turn of the last century . The Ithiel Town became an player in the vast mogul supplying chain that power Europe for eight X , until the mines closed in 1988 . Since then , the modest city has worked to wrick the cadaver of the mines — from dozens of processing building to a internet of hole-and-corner tunnel — into a multi - use residential district center calledC - Mine . For instance , one portion is now an operating pic theater of operations . Another , a eminent school for medium and design . The former slag heap ? It ’s a hiking area .
The latest transformation in Winterslag comes thanks toNU architectuuratelier , who become the mine ’s erstwhile ventilation irradiation into an graceful “ experience place , ” where visitor can explore a Robert Penn Warren of underground tunnels and climb to the top of the Winterslag ’s 180 - human foot - marvelous ventilation tower .
Unlike a museum , the so - calledC - Mine Expeditiondoesn’t comply any dictated path . “ It takes visitors through a range of different disorientate quad , get down with an archive that carries out the memory of the mine - industriousness , ” explain the architect . That includes atmospheric spaces where sounds and images from the former mine fill up the erectile space , as well as situation - specific installations from artist . Finally , the ventilation tug — which was build around 1912 — was converted into an observance pack of cards , organized around two double - helix staircases .
It ’s an amazingly cool looking space — and though it ’s not a literal monument to the city ’s industrial glory , it is a riveting way to convey the experience of the mine without recur to historical refreshment . [ see viaArchDaily ]
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ArchitectureBelgiumMinesurbanism
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