Duisburg inner harbor

The Duisburg inner harbour is just a few minutes by foot from the city centre and lies in the shadow of the medieval Salvatorkirche church and the town hall. The unique setting of imposing old warehouse buildings and mills (today they house hospitality outlets museums and offices), is the starting point for new urban developments here.

The old harbour area is 1.8 kilometres long – and fast enjoying a new lease of life as a hotspot driving structural change in the city. The guiding principle of “Work, reside and relax at the waterside” has long since been a sustainable and internationally recognized model for the successful rejuvenation of old industrial wastelands. The international stars of architecture are providing crucial contributions to reshaping the old harbour area in Duisburg.

 

Das Foto zeigt den Park "Garten der Erinnerung".

Dani Karavan, Garden of Memories

 

Between the newly constructed Jewish community centre and senior citizen’s home Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan has developed a park that is unique in the world: the Garden of Memories. It was publicly commissioned on June 11, 1999. However, the artist was not only tasked with planning the green space but was also given the opportunity to use the materials left over from all of the on-site warehouses and company buildings that had been demolished. All of the towering sculptural architectures, as well as the paving of the crossing main paths and the rock garden thus come from pre-existing structures. Solely the row of white concrete columns, as well as the lines structuring the ground (likewise made of white concrete and doubling as seats), and a moat that are additions made of new materials.

The Garden of Memories is gesamtkunstwerk and a social sculpture, which, according to the motto “Transformation without Growth”, allows for a variety of uses.