topos113

“It takes courage to use a landscape as it is”
When industrial landscapes have fulfilled their purpose, are no longer needed, a process begins that goes to the very
substance of things. Not only places, but also people are robbed of their identity; economic, social, societal changes are
inevitable. Where do you start as a planner? How do you set a transformation process in motion? Do you build on what
is still there? Do you break away from it? How much radicalism is needed to transform landscapes in such a way that
a new identity is possible, but the past does not disappear? topos spoke with Tilman Latz, a German architect, urban
planner and landscape architect, about the right way to deal with industrial legacies, about the dangers of the Bilbao
effect and about the great heritage of Duisburg-Nord.
INTERVIEW: ANJA KOLLER
topos: Mr. Latz, one of your areas of expertise is the transformation of post-industrial
landscapes. What does transformation mean to you?
TILMAN LATZ: For some people, transformation is any kind of change. For us,
transformation is something that very much takes on a given situation or at
least tries to do so. In order for something new to emerge, i.e. for the transformation
process to be set in motion, one must deal with the existing. And we
don't only look at what is visible, what is there, but also at the invisible. We look
at thoughts, hopes, clichés that people have in their heads, at the history of a
place, which often has to do with what is visible. We then place this construct in
a new context of meaning.
topos: What happens to the places, the landscapes, and the people until places
are transformed, until you as a planner create a new framework of meaning?
LATZ: A region builds up an industry and suddenly the structures that are so
important for the people there are empty and apparently without any further
meaning – despite the fact that they provided work to many generations and
that billions were invested and earned there. Industrial landscapes, for example,
are per se always subject to constant change so that they can keep up with new
technologies and remain competitive. If this will to change is not there or is no
longer possible due to external circumstances, then decline is inevitable: we observed
this in many industrial areas in eastern Germany, for example – after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the plants there were hopelessly outgunned in the global
competition. This process is the same all over the world: industrial plants are
shut down, thousands of people lose their jobs. In other words, nothing positive
is associated with what is there; on the contrary, there is frustration and a feeling
of worthlessness. And this is exactly what you have to confront as a planner.
You can take these issues very far: depending on which culture you are dealing
with, you have to handle different hardships and effects – both in terms of people
and the landscape. And I am convinced that you can work with that.
topos: Give us an example – in which project is this process-based and exploratory
element particularly evident? Different phases take place here: shock, perhaps
even a kind of “catatonia”, realisation, recognition, self-discovery, reorientation...
LATZ: Our example is Duisburg-Nord. In the mid-1970s there was a worldwide
steel crisis. Production at the Meiderich steelworks was cut back. The last shift
ended in 1985. That was hard for the people there. The special situation at the
time was – and this is of course still relatively specific to Germany – that social
and economic hardships were cushioned by subsidy systems. This is often not
the case in other countries. Generally speaking, people in Germany tried to
keep the industry running as long as possible. After all, when an important
plant is closed, others will follow; chain reactions are set in motion. That’s why
the shut-down process was carried out slowly and, above all, gradually, by closing
one part of a plant after another. A “cautious” approach was adopted. And
this cushioning on the part of the politicians conveyed an incredible stability
despite all the problems, but above all it also provided the time to deal with
what the process really entailed and to think about alternatives. The planners –
above all my father Peter – still had a lot to work with during the process of
transforming the steelworks into a landscape park. And that was precisely one
of the reasons why the IBA Emscher Park, i.e. the International Building Exhibition
under the leadership of Karl Ganser, a ten-year modernisation programme
by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to overcome the
structural crisis in the northern Ruhr area – was so successful.
topos: Then it really depends on the culture of the respective country how to deal
with a transformation process...What are differences and what are similarities?
LATZ: In many countries, people don't take the time to deal intensively with the
object. Often the process is carried out hastily and plants are immediately shut
down, sometimes even demolished. In Germany, people discuss what happens
when identity is lost, because that is viewed as a drastic consequence. But of
course there are similarities beyond all cultural differences, and these are the societal
wounds that the closing down of a plant entails, the stories people tell
about a place, the bond they feel with it. Historically, industrial plants in the
Western industrialised countries were usually an integral part of the city centre
– at least until the Second World War, and thus roughly until the car gained importance
in the 1960s and 1970s. This is where life took place; often the town
hall was right next door. And exactly this was, and still is, an opportunity for
086 topos ISSUE 113