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| The Zollverein Coking Plant | |
The Zollverein coking plant entered public awareness with a bang in 1999, thanks to a massive exhibition entitled “Sun, Moon and Stars”. Who would have thought that the plant, which closed down in 1993, might once again play host to hundreds of thousands of visitors? Today, the coking plant – along with the neighbouring Zollverein pit – is part of a large-scale development to turn the sites into long-term centres of excellence in North Rhine-Westphalia. Top-class international centres for design, commerce, art and culture are filling the sites with life once more.
Since 2001 the Zollverein coking plant has been used as a venue for contemporary art and culture. The first permanent project was set up on the “white side” of the coking plant: here the former salt warehouse now serves as an exhibition hall for the fascinating “Palace of Projects”, an installation created by the world-famous Russian-American artists, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. At night the site is lit up by a spectacular illumination devised by the London artists Speirs & Major.
Today, the coking plant is used to promote “future energy”. Since 1999 work has been proceeding on a solar power plant with photovoltaic modules on the roof of the quenching hall. For the price of only 8 Euro for a photovoltaic module, visitors can support the extension of the longest solar roof in the world.
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