Just-in-me: Germany

Day 4 | Duisburg - Krefeld

Day four still saw us exploring in the Ruhr region, this time to Duisburg and Krefeld. I thought that this day was significantly less of a rush and was at slightly nicer, more relaxed pace since not only was it our last day of the trip, but it also we only had three main areas we had to visit on the itinerary.

On that cold, foggy morning, we headed off to the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord otherwise known as the Duisburg Nord Landscape Park which is another abandoned mining facility left over from the the region's coal and steel industrial mining past. To say that it's interesting would be an understatement. What struck me the most would be how the mining structures and immense industrial built form seem to be left intact and not demolished. Instead, the structures seem to be 'healing' the landscape. Contributing to cleanse the area and getting rid of it's toxicity and pollution which is apparently still present in the soils. Instead of rejecting it's past, the park seemingly embraces it and treats it as part of a wound in the landscape.

The derelict structures were most mesmerizing. There, you hear the silence around you, with the occasional clinking and clanking of the footsteps of visitors as they stomp on the cold steel surfaces. The best thing above all is the ability to explore these structures through these public staircases which wind their way up through heavy mechanical remnants to different platforms each higher than the other, each with vistas out towards the landscape. The smell of rust is ever present in the air as if a reminder that these structures are still eroding with time, responding to the soil, the air, the mist. It's impossible to imagine what it must have been like as a worker in this place.

After spending a good day at the landscape park, we walked over to the Küppersmühle Museum. Mainly just to have a quick peek at the extension of the building by Herzog and de Meuron. The artwork on display itself was alright, but truly the stairwell of the extension block was the pièce de résistance. A gorgeous block of red-coloured concrete housing a beautifully crafted brick red stairwell winding its way up with such grace and almost-organic flow. Featuring woodgrain shuttered brick-red concrete ballusters and rough textural steps, the staircase emanates a certain warmth to the user.

Last building of the day was Haus Lange and Haus Esters in Krefeld by famed architect Mies van der Rohe. A fine example of his early works on domestic residential houses. An impressive modernist piece of art especially when seen in the context of its setting and time. I especially loved the relationship between the interior and exterior of the building. The thoughtful placement of windows and the materials used all reflect the idealogies of Mies.

Photos from now on: