Industrial heritage and the New European Bauhaus was the theme of this year's meeting of the members of the ERIH Association, the organization of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. NEB_NETWORKOFFICE was invited to present the initiative for the New European Bauhaus in Saxony-Anhalt.
November 8th to 10th, the congress took place in Bilbao in the north of Spain. A historic and formerly highly industrialized port city on the Bay of Biscay, which boasts numerous architectural sights. Starting with the lively, medieval, completely car-free old town, through magnificent architecture from the industrialization and Art Nouveau periods and powerful witnesses to the shipbuilding and steel construction tradition, to contemporary buildings by internationally renowned architects. Every single era of development can be seen in the city and its entire habitus bears witness to centuries of resilience - beautiful, proud Bilbao! Due to deindustrialization, Bilbao has experienced a hard structural break and has repositioned itself.
On 9 November, the NETWORRKOFFICE gave a presentation on the history of industrialization in Saxony-Anhalt, the historic Bauhaus and its successor organizations #moderndenken, as well as our plans for the New European Bauhaus in Saxony-Anhalt #NeueBauhäusler. The auditorium was very interested in Saxony-Anhalt's experiences from the Industrial-Garden-Realm projects and IBA 2010 strategies in shrinking cities.
Other speakers from Luxembourg, Port Sunlight in England, Rybnik in Poland, Pfefferberg Berlin, the textile industry in Norway and Reggio nell'Emilia in Italy spoke about Europe's rich industrial heritage and the impetus for its further development. There was a consensus that industrial heritage can make a significant contribution to sustainable urban development and creative civil engagement. The preservation of industrial architecture preserves authentic, often highly aesthetic layers of time and allows a variety of uses due to its inherent spatial and structural flexibility. The revitalization of industrial heritage is a high priority for the NEB Saxony-Anhalt.
More information on the European Route of Industrial Heritage:
