Newsletter 113 from 08/13/2009

Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA)
Fürst-Pückler-Land

1. Open house: Second floating house on post-mining lake in Saxony
2. Official visit: Infrastructure minister Dellmann makes summer visit to Lakeland
3. Diary date: Last few remaining places for the IBA Conference
4. Star attraction: Fürst-Pückler cycle path boasts four stars and a tour guide
5. Capital growth: Lübben commits seven-figure sum to "Spree Water Empire"
6. Discovery tour: On the "sand path" to the Cottbus Baltic
7. Recorded delivery: Documentation on Senftenberg Town Harbour competition
8. Digital age: Emergence of Lake Ilse captured on camera on the internet
9. Film location: Rapunzel on the bed of Lake Ilse

(1) Open house:

Second floating house on post-mining lake in Saxony

Another floating architecture milestone has been reached in the Lusatian Lakeland. For four and a half years Thomas Wilde dreamed his dream of houses on Geierswald Lake. His futuristic modular house "ar-che" was launched onto the water at the beginning of July and it was recently opened as a show home. It is a sign of what is planned in terms of the floating residential harbour, "Scado", with a full complement of 20 houses on the water and nine houses on land. The house and its interior were designed by Kerstin Wilde who was awarded the Brandenburg Design Prize in 2008 for her work. The semi-arch forms and the use of steel and glass give this modular building its distinctive character. It offers usable space of 97 square metres and boasts a sun deck measuring 22 square metres. Thomas Wilde, director of steeltec 37 and Wilde Metallbau GmbH, is the project investor. At the opening ceremony IBA Director Rolf Kuhn commended the Brandenburg siblings for their courage: "Both are fulfilling the IBA brief to the letter in Lusatia and have not only developed a new attraction in the Lusatian Lakeland with this floating house but they are building a trademark housing form for the waterscape."

(2) Official visit:

Infrastructure minister Dellmann makes summer visit to Lakeland

On a recent visit to the area, infrastructure minister Reinhold Dellmann (right) and chief of the Brandenburg Minister-President's Office Clemens Appel (2nd from right) found out about developments in the Lusatian Lakeland and about the IBA Finale in 2010. After climbing the 30-metre landmark, they moved on to the "showground building site" on the canal between the Senftenberg and Geierswald lakes and to the WAL building in Senftenberg, the site earmarked for the future town harbour development. Dellmann was evidently satisfied that capital funds were being well invested, whether in the landmark, the 20 million euro canal project, or in the town harbour development which will cost nine million euros. He also expressed his appreciation of the work of the LMBV, IBA and Senftenberg town council, and promised the initial ground-breaking for the town harbour by the IBA Finale in 2010.

(3) Diary date:

Last few remaining places for the IBA Conference

The conference "Opportunity: Post-Mining Landscape" is fast approaching. The event scheduled to be held from 15 to 17 September on the IBA Terraces will be an opportunity to discuss post-mining landscape design with an international public. Some 130 registrations have already been received. A few places are still available and the deadline for registrations is 31 August.
There will be 24 speakers from various mining regions in the world offering new and interesting insights, but the attractions do not stop there. The "10 theses on dealing with post-mining landscapes" have now been formulated by a committee of experts on the basis of the experiences in Lusatia and international exchange. The aim of the theses is to come to a common understanding on how to deal with these landscapes. They will also form a starting point for discussion about a "Lusatia Charter" which is to be adopted in the course of the conference. Delegates can discuss these theses in the run-up to the conference in the online forum.

(4) Star attraction:

Fürst-Pückler cycle path boasts four stars and a tour guide

The 500-kilometre Fürst-Pückler cycle path in Lusatia is one of Germany's most beautiful long-distance cycle tracks. It was shortly awarded four stars out of a possible five for the second time by the national German Cyclists' Federation (ADFC). The seal of quality is valid for the next three years. Cyclists are very well catered for, with a safe and well-surfaced path and a wide range of tourist attractions and ample Bed+Bike accommodation along the route. The route, which links virtually all the IBA projects, was the first German cycle path to be awarded four stars in a model certification process in 2005. The signposts have now been replaced and updated. A small blue and white pyramid guides the cyclist through 500 years of contemporary history of Lusatia and its Brandenburg and Saxon roots.
The new tour guide in the Bikeline series published by the Esterbauer Verlag (ISBN 978-3-85000-258-5) offers advice and tips for cyclists. The 120-page guide contains maps, precise route descriptions, street maps, town plans, background information, tourist tips and an extensive list of accommodation. The tour guide costs EUR 12.90 and can be purchased at the IBA Terraces and bookshops or ordered by email from Rita Sandner at sandner@iba-see.de.

(5) Capital growth:

Lübben commits seven-figure sum to "Spree Water Empire"

The town of Lübben is willing to invest 1.5 million euros towards the "Spree Water Empire" visitor centre. The town councillors were unanimous in their recent decision to support the project which is being run under the auspices of the IBA. The hope is that the impact of the visitor centre will extend beyond the Spreewald town and bring more tourists to the town. In November 2008 the Hamburg-based exhibition design company Leisureworkgroup GmbH won the competition to come up with an exhibition concept and strategy for running the visitor centre south of the Schlossinsel (palace island) in Lübben. "What mattered to us was that the town should send out a strong signal in respect of this project", said IBA project manager René Gottschalk, "as this helps with negotiations with project partners." The projected investment amount is 18 million euros.

(6) Discovery tour:

On the "sand path" to the Cottbus Baltic

The "Lausitzer Rundschau" newspaper, the "Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus" diesel power station art museum and the IBA are inviting people to go on an exciting cycle tour on the "sand path" on 18 August. The invitation is open to anyone interested in a close encounter with the Mark Brandenburg sand in the countryside around Cottbus. Brigitte Scholz, project manager at the IBA, and Jörg Sperling from the art museum will be accompanying the tour, providing input about the geology of Lusatia and information about the Cottbus Baltic master plan. Starting from the art museum, the discovery tour will take about four and a half hours and will make six stops on the way to the west viewing point at Cottbus-Nord open-cast mine and to the Cottbus Baltic viewing tower where a lunchtime snack will be organised. The tour will continue to the inland dunes of the Merzdorfer Alpen, to the former lime sand brick works and on to the Herzogsberg mountains, Pückler Park Branitz and back to the Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus art museum. The 20-kilometre round trip will leave from the Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk at 10:00 hours. Anyone wishing to explore the "sand path" under their own steam can do so with the aid of the guide ("Sandführer").

(7) Recorded delivery:

Documentation on Senftenberg Town Harbour competition

A 71-page document is now available featuring all the award-winning projects and runners-up in the competition to design the architecture and landscape of Senftenberg town harbour. The competition was announced in the autumn of 2008 by Senftenberg town council and the IBA, and the winners were decided in March 2009. The jury voted unanimously for the work of the Berlin landscaping firm bgmr, Cologne-based ASTOC Architects & Planners and the Dresden ecosystem company ECOSYSTEM SAXONIA. The competition remit was to design the new town harbour on the basis of an urban planning study and a preliminary development plan. The design brief was for a leisure harbour with a promenade which would be a new flagship attraction in the Lusatian Lakeland. The competition brief included the harbour facilities, outdoor complexes, the purpose-built port facilities and a bridge rising and extending into the lake with a jetty. The competition documents can be purchased for EUR 7.50 at the IBA Terraces or ordered by email from Rita Sandner at sandner@iba-see.de.

(8) Digital age:

Emergence of Lake Ilse captured on camera on the internet

The town of Großräschen has installed a webcam which is intended to capture the transformation of the landscape around Lake Ilse and the rising water level. The pictures are taken on the steel construction created by landscape architect Wolfgang Joswig which rises up like the bow of a ship into the landscape on the Victoria Heights viewing point. A picture of Lake Ilse and the IBA Terraces is uploaded every five minutes. Two 90-degree lenses are used to supply the panoramic view on the internet.

(9) Film location:

Rapunzel on the bed of Lake Ilse

In July the broadcasting organisation Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg shot a scene for the film version of Rapunzel on location in the former Meuro open-cast mine. Rapunzel, played by Luisa Wietzorek, let down her hair from the Ascanian tower in the Brandenburg town of Schorfheide before being banished to the desert by the evil witch at the end of the fairy tale. Suzanne von Borsody played the role of the witch and, in this scene, she enticed the prince, played by Jaime Ferkic, to the precipice in the disused open-cast mine. The film was directed by Bodo Fürneisen and was shot as part of the ARD fairy tale series entitled "Acht auf einen Streich" and will probably be broadcast on Channel One ("das Erste") on 1 January 2010.