Redesigning Wounded Landscapes

In Lusatia in the eastern German state of Brandenburg a region that has been extensively affected by human demands an International Building Exhibition (IBA) was harnessed to provide creative designs for a post-mining landscape for the first time. The question that is central to this endeavour is: what potential for design do wounded or even destroyed landscapes possess? To what extent and in what ways can a workshop for new landscapes exert an influence, and what weapons does it have in its armoury? And do these methods and processes have applications beyond Lusatia in other regions and worldwide? Ten authors investigate these questions, looking at the IBA laboratory for new landscapes and the transformation after ten years of IBA in Lusatia from a wide variety of perspectives: the perspectives both of insiders and outsiders, and the perspectives of politics, culture, technology and art, of local inhabitants and of planners.

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What potential for design can be found in damaged or even devastated landscapes? What do we understand by a workshop for new landscapes? Building exhibitions have enjoyed a 100-year tradition in Germany. But the first Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) to redesign a post-mining landscape creatively was implemented in Lusatia-a region much impaired by man's over-exploitation. What did the IBA give to Lusatia? What methods and processes may be applied in other regions beyond Lusatia?Ten authors explore these questions by highlighting the changes after ten years IBA in Lusatia. They look at the region from a wide range of perspectives: from inside and out, but also from the viewpoints of history, politics, culture, technology and art, and that of the people involved-local residents and planners.