Spaceship Hambach – Garzweiler II < > Setting Out for New Worlds
Our proposal for transforming Europe’s largest lignite open-cast mining region envisions
developing some of the surrounding villages, many of which are currently half-abandoned
or already destroyed, into an experimental laboratory for a new, contemporary form of
social coexistence. This entails, among other things, implementing concepts such as
Prof. Michael Braungart’s “Cradle to Cradle” approach and establishing large-scale
permaculture systems. It also involves allowing the open-cast mine pits to undergo
natural renaturation while creating a network of paths, resembling a river delta, through
the landscape; along these paths, building complexes would emerge here and there, such
as a university campus, a museum dedicated to the region’s history, a contemporary art
museum, and various research laboratories addressing the challenges of the present
and future, all constructed using sustainable, modern materials. The region’s new
magnetic appeal could stem from art…
with the world’s largest international sculpture park eventually becoming established there.
This would create a vast, open laboratory for art, blending art rooted in the local region
with international works by art-market stars in a spirit of direct interaction.
