Neustadt in collaboration with Marta Dyachenko
permanent installation, Emscherkunstweg, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, Germany, 2020-2021
Installation view Neustadt, 2020 | miniature model of a swimming and leisure pool (Freizeit- und Allwetterbad) in Schwerte | constructed 1993; demolition 2017 | stainless steel, steel, acryl glass, 42 × 302 × 237cm, 350kg
Neustadt (New City) is a fictive city made up of 1:25-scale models of various buildings in the Ruhr region that were demolished since the 2000s. The permanent installation of altogether 23 sculptures is located on a stretch of green in Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord and is part of the Emscherkunstweg (Emscher Art Trail), a sculpture path along the river Emscher which flows from West to East through the industrial cityscapes of the Ruhr area. Researching the history of construction and demolition in the Ruhr region over the past twenty years, Julius von Bismarck and Marta Dyachenko selected 23 torn down buildings, including residential houses, water parks, churches and schools, to bring them back to life in the form of sculptures. The new city of “old buildings” houses a cross-section of local urban architecture ranging from late 19th-century historicist apartment buildings from Essen to a 16-story skyscraper nicknamed the “Weiße Riese” in Kamp-Lintfort. Two public pools, a community school and two churches, one of them built in 1904 in neo-Gothic style and torn down in 2015, are examples of the social change that has taken place within the public engagement for the communities and religious congregations.
Rather than following a rigorous selection procedure, the artists largely based their choice of buildings on sculptural and aesthetic criteria. The many details such as ornamental window fixtures, wall reliefs, or countless tiny window panes made of acrylic glass, form a visually delicate contrast with the concrete and steel – the principal raw materials used to construct all miniature buildings across the park. Neustadt raises issues of city-development and urban sustainability. Sculptures like the resurrection of the Volkshochschule in Essen with its remarkable tiered architecture and washed concrete reliefs on the façade or the indoor swimming pool in Marl – both once celebrated examples of post-war architectural modernity – raise questions about the logic of preservation and demolition. On a broader scale, similar questions which prompt reflection on urban planning and environmental governance, are likewise mirrored in the structural change of the Ruhr region and the Emscher River conversion.
Neustadt was curated by Britta Peters, artistic director of Urbane Künste Ruhr. The Emscher Art Trail is a cooperation between Urbane Künste Ruhr, Emschergenossenschaft and Regionalverband Ruhr. The sculptural installation has been consciously integrated into what appears to be fallow land, yet which in fact was landscaped as part of the International Architecture Exhibition IBA Emscher Park in the 1990s, and thus – in addition to the dramatic shifts in scale – reflects the relationship between nature and culture.
Neustadt, 2020 (behind-the-scenes footage; shipment of the sculptures from Berlin to Duisburg)
Neustadt, 2020 (behind-the-scenes footage) | 23 sculptures (models in 1:25 scale of demolished residential buildings, water parks, churches and schools) are making their way from Berlin to Duisburg
Neustadt, 2020 (behind-the-scenes footage; shipment of the sculptures from Berlin to Duisburg)
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2020
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, 2020 | miniature model of indoor swimming pool in Marl |constructed 1962–64; demolition 2016 | concrete, stainless steel, glass, 54 × 266 × 356 cm, 3350 kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2020 | miniature model of the Church St. Joseph in Essen-Kupferdreh | constructed 1902—1904; extension 1957/58; demolition 2015 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, 156 × 127 × 181 cm 1800 kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2020 | miniature model of indoor swimming pool in Marl | constructed 1962–64; demolition 2016 | concrete, stainless steel, glass, 54 × 266 × 356cm, 3350kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | City Wohnturm, residential tower in Bergkamen | constructed 1974; demolition 2016 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, aluminium, 259 × 104 × 112cm, 5500kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2020 | miniature model of the Volkshochschule (adult education centre) in Essen | constructed 1971/72; demolition 2014 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, 90 × 175 × 443cm, 6640kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2020 | miniature model of the Volkshochschule (adult education centre) in Essen | constructed 1971/72; demolition 2014 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, 90 × 175 × 443cm, 6640kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2020 | miniature model of the Volkshochschule (adult education centre) in Essen | constructed 1971/72; demolition 2014 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, 90 × 175 × 443cm, 6640kg
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | miniature model of the Church St. Joseph in Essen-Kupferdreh | constructed 1902—1904; extension 1957/58; demolition 2015 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, 156 × 127 × 181 cm, 1800 kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | miniature model of the Church St. Joseph in Essen-Kupferdreh (detail)
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | miniature model of the powerplant ‘Kraftwerk Gustav Knepper’ in Dortmund | constructed 1951; demolition 2019 | concrete, steel 164×139×280cm 12 t
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2020
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2020
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2020
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2020
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2020
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | miniature model of the ‘Weißer Riese’ residential towers in Kamp-Lintfort | constructed 1970s - demolition 2009 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, each 193 x 105 x 85 cm, each 600kg
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | miniature model of the ‘Weißer Riese’ residential towers in Kamp-Lintfort (detail)
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | miniature model of Church St. Stephanus in Essen | constructed 1930–1944; demolition 2018 | concrete, stainless steel, 139 x 188 x 127cm, 1200kg
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, 2021 | miniature model of the ‘Weißer Riese’ residential towers in Kamp-Lintfort | constructed 1970s; demolition 2009 | concrete, steel, acryl glass, each 193 x 105 x 85cm, each 600kg
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021
Installation view Neustadt, Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord, 2021