Berne Park

The transformation of former industrial waterworks

In near all our commissioned projects site and programme are given and form the start of our journey. As part of the EMSCHERKUNST 2010 art festival in the post-industrial Ruhr-area of Emsher Island, we for once were asked to find out own site and define our own brief.  On search for a possible site -not just for a temporary intervention but permanent regeneration which benefits local community - we forensically investigated the Emsher Island like a pack of unleased hounds.  We found our site; an abandoned former industrial waterwork with two round basins of 72 m. diameter. In the 1990’s, in connection with the restoration of the Emsher River to a more natural condition and the construction of an enormous, subterranean wastewater canal, numerous relatively small sewage treatments plants were shut down.  Our site – in the Bottrop-Ebel district, where the Berne River flows into the Emsher-  was one of those former industrial waste water treatment  plants and closed in 1997.Rather than being demolished, it was chosen not only to be preserved as industrial monument, but also to fulfil a new function as a park to meet the recreational needs of the local community.”. The project centres on two sedimentation tanks which have been given a new function. One of the tanks remain a basic water basin, but a rounded wooden platform in the middle, which can be reached via a bridge, invites visitors to relax and sun themselves. The other tank has been filled with soil, creating a slightly sunken but accessible perennial planted garden labyrinth. A path follows a spiral route around a series of concentric circles of matrix planting in a layered approach intermixed with wave like groups of taller species using more than 20,000 plants.  They provide both rhythm and melody that changes as one move through the space. Piet Oudolf created a composition what he calls: “a natural painting where visitors can stroll, meditate and linger’ The surrounding park land was designed by Davids Terfrüchte +Partner. Other artist intervention at Berne Park includes a two part installation comprising a text piece entitled “CATCH AS CATH CAN” by Lawrence Wiener, one of the founders of American Conceptual Art, and a circular light piece that moves like a rhythmic wave along the outer edges of the former sewerage tanks by artist Mischa Kuball

Other installations at Emsherkunst 2010 included works by Mark Dion, Tobias Rehberger, Rita Mcbride / Observatorium / Tadashi Kawamata / Olaf Nicolai+ Douglas Gordon / Silke Wagner. Since its inaugural in 2010 Emsherkunst has become a groundbreaking triennial site-specific art project which operates at the intersection of contemporary art, environmental restoration, urban planning and community development. The unique -ever expanding-art trail invites visitors to explore the region’s post-industrial landscapes while reflecting on its ecological transformation.