Changing - A photo documentation
Change does not always catch the eye, it does not need comparison to show itself, nor does it need explanation. The change that has taken place in the villages Immerath-Neu, Borschemich-Neu and Keyenberg-Neu can be clearly felt when driving through the villages. If you look closely, you will notice that something is wrong. Something is different.
Something is wrong.
A perfectly paved, uniform sidewalk, a flat street without potholes and a dream house next to each other. Everything seems too perfect, too deliberate and too planned. There is no flaw. The reason: They are all called "Plandörfer" or colloquially derogatory "Retortendörfer". The new villages are all about ten kilometres away from the Garzweiler II open-cast mine and were built from scratch within a few years. And that's exactly what a Plandorf is. It is a village that was planned as a whole and did not grow naturally.
At the beginning the infrastructure of the former village will be rebuilt and after the roads with the first layer of tar have been laid out, road signs with the addition "- New" will be erected and the first houses will be built. The result is a completely bizarre village without a common overall picture or even a history of origins. Each builds his own individual, perfect dream house next to the other.
Normally villages are extended and there are exact building regulations, which limit the style of the house. In the villages Immerath-Neu, Borschemich-Neu and Keyenberg-Neu you almost get the feeling of Sim City. The villagers build their village and their house completely according to their own ideas. They try to simulate the former village life as best they can. However, in each of these places one notices that emotions, memories and stories cannot be transferred to the new location.
Something is missing.
Change does not always catch the eye, it does not need comparison to show itself, nor does it need explanation. The change that has taken place in the villages Immerath-Neu, Borschemich-Neu and Keyenberg-Neu can be clearly felt when driving through the villages. If you look closely, you will notice that something is wrong. Something is different.
Something is wrong.
A perfectly paved, uniform sidewalk, a flat street without potholes and a dream house next to each other. Everything seems too perfect, too deliberate and too planned. There is no flaw. The reason: They are all called "Plandörfer" or colloquially derogatory "Retortendörfer". The new villages are all about ten kilometres away from the Garzweiler II open-cast mine and were built from scratch within a few years. And that's exactly what a Plandorf is. It is a village that was planned as a whole and did not grow naturally.
At the beginning the infrastructure of the former village will be rebuilt and after the roads with the first layer of tar have been laid out, road signs with the addition "- New" will be erected and the first houses will be built. The result is a completely bizarre village without a common overall picture or even a history of origins. Each builds his own individual, perfect dream house next to the other.
Normally villages are extended and there are exact building regulations, which limit the style of the house. In the villages Immerath-Neu, Borschemich-Neu and Keyenberg-Neu you almost get the feeling of Sim City. The villagers build their village and their house completely according to their own ideas. They try to simulate the former village life as best they can. However, in each of these places one notices that emotions, memories and stories cannot be transferred to the new location.
Something is missing.
Publications
July 2018 - Semester exhibition at the Department of Design of the FH Aachen
September 2018 - Streaming Pictures at the Museum for Applied Arts Cologne (MAKK)
September 2018 - Streaming Pictures at the Museum for Applied Arts Cologne (MAKK)
