Between
Dresden and Berlin, the largest artificial lake landscape in Europe is
emerging. Lusatia’s lignite fields are becoming the Lusatian Lake Land. The
mighty craters left behind where huge diggers once lifted lignite out of the
earth are now being flooded. A former moonscape is being transformed into a
»water world« of thirty lakes, ten of which are connected by navigable canals.
Right in the centre is the 'Lusatian Lakeland Landmark', an unmistakable symbol
of the future that provides a panoramic view of the lake landscape. its lake
and becoming a 'Lake Town'.
A stark contrast between nature and industry is reflected in the Lusatian Lake Land. Rather than smoothing out this tension, the IBA wanted to highlight it. Needing a tangible symbol, they finally joined forces with the city of Senftenberg in 2005 to hold an architecture competition to design a 'Lusatian Lakeland Landmark': a viewing tower on the Sorno canal between the Lake Sedlitz and the Lake Geierswalde (and between Brandenburg and Saxony) in the heart of the Lake Land, which would also be a sculpture and a symbol for the transformation of the landscape. Out of 145 entries, the partnership Stefan Giers from Munich and the landscape architecture firm Giers from Wettenberg won. In 2008, the LMBV (the sponsor of the project), the city (contractor for the project), and the IBA (project initiator), celebrated its opening together – appropriately enough, in a year with the IBA theme 'Seensucht Lausitz' (a play on 'See' = 'lake' and 'Sehnsucht' = 'longing'). Made from rust-coloured Corten steel, the Landmark is intentionally reminiscent of the industrial origins and history of the Lake land and of steel mining machinery – while the sculptural staircase is a symbol of human achievement and of the future. From a height of thirty metres, its users can see three lakes and the Schwarze Pumpe, Boxberg and Jänschwalde power plants on the horizon.
A stark contrast between nature and industry is reflected in the Lusatian Lake Land. Rather than smoothing out this tension, the IBA wanted to highlight it. Needing a tangible symbol, they finally joined forces with the city of Senftenberg in 2005 to hold an architecture competition to design a 'Lusatian Lakeland Landmark': a viewing tower on the Sorno canal between the Lake Sedlitz and the Lake Geierswalde (and between Brandenburg and Saxony) in the heart of the Lake Land, which would also be a sculpture and a symbol for the transformation of the landscape. Out of 145 entries, the partnership Stefan Giers from Munich and the landscape architecture firm Giers from Wettenberg won. In 2008, the LMBV (the sponsor of the project), the city (contractor for the project), and the IBA (project initiator), celebrated its opening together – appropriately enough, in a year with the IBA theme 'Seensucht Lausitz' (a play on 'See' = 'lake' and 'Sehnsucht' = 'longing'). Made from rust-coloured Corten steel, the Landmark is intentionally reminiscent of the industrial origins and history of the Lake land and of steel mining machinery – while the sculptural staircase is a symbol of human achievement and of the future. From a height of thirty metres, its users can see three lakes and the Schwarze Pumpe, Boxberg and Jänschwalde power plants on the horizon.
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