Post-‐Industrial Sites as Art Museums:
the influence of architectural setting on museum practices
İrem Sezer -‐ 11387092
University of Amsterdam, NL
Museum Studies, MA Thesis
Supervisor: Dr. Mirjam Hoijtink
Second Reader: Dr. Günay Uslu
14.03.2018
Word count: 23, 802
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ... 3
Introduction ... 4
Industrial heritage ... 5
Museums in the contemporary context ... 7
Research ... 9
Chapter 1 ... 11
Historical background of industrial sites and variations of their revitalization ... 11
1.1 A brief historical background of industrial heritage tourism ... 11
1.2 Post-‐industrial sites as cultural hubs ... 15
1.3 Post-‐industrial sites as art museums ... 19
1.4 The Tate effect ... 23
Chapter 2 ... 26
Curatorial practices in art museums placed in post-‐industrial buildings ... 26
2.1 Overview of the curatorial practices ... 26
2.2 Setting the scene ... 29
2.3 Artistic program ... 35
Chapter 3 ... 41
Forming identity and experience in art museums ... 41
3.1 Beyond artistic program of art museums ... 41
3.2 The image of post-‐industrial art museums ... 43
3.3 The experience of post-‐industrial sites ... 48
Conclusion ... 54
Bibliography ... 60
Table of Figures ... 67
Interviews ... 69
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Mirjam Hoijtink for guiding and supporting me throughout the whole thesis process, and to my second reader Dr. Günay Uslu for being very keen to help me whenever I needed. Also, Hendrik Driessen, Maria Schnyder and Lora Sarıaslan were so kind to accept my request for interview, which I gained valuable insights for my research. Laura Alexander, thank you very much for being so patient and enthusiastic for editing my thesis.
Without the support of my family, I would not be able to have this amazing experience in Amsterdam. Güner, Cayko, Berrin, Ciciş, Hamaş and Harun I hope this achievement will pay back at least a part of your efforts you have put in my happiness and in my life goals. Gizem, your unconditional love and patience have given me strength in the hardest times, so I would like to thank you for being always by my side. I dedicate my research to my lovely nephews, Kerem and Alp, with the hope that it will spark some inspiration in their future endeavors. Also, as an apology for the time we had to spend apart.
Dearest Hikmu, as a father, as a friend and as a teacher, knowing that you are always there to mentor me on any occasion gives me a confidence that even you can hardly imagine. Duygu, my sister from another mother, I’m so grateful to have you in my life because you understand me without any explanation. Simge and Semih, you have been my family here and made Amsterdam feel like home, thank you for taking care of me all the time. My library companions Valeria, Shirin, Maria, Beta and Julija, I’m so glad that we experienced this journey together. And İsmail, thank you for checking up on me during this time, you have always been very successful in soothing my anxiety.
Aslı, Buket, Ezgi, Zeliş and Öznur, I know that you are waiting to celebrate another achievement we have been through, and I know we will see many more coming in the future as long as we are tied together regardless of borders and countries. My dear brothers Alican, Allen, Hüseyin and Utku, thank you very much for making my life much more fun.
Yemliha Bilal, it is hard to express how much I feel lucky to have you as my partner in crime. Your patience, calm and your confidence in me make me a better person and you will always be an inspiration to me. Çok teşekkür ederim!
Introduction
The immense industrial production of the 19th and 20th century left a considerable amount of physical and cultural heritage in Europe. As the Western world shifted towards new political, social and economic systems, the industrial sites that had once been sources of power and supremacy faced radical decline as a result of the rapid deindustrialization of cities. Since the second half of the 20th century, European cities have struggled to manage the physical remains of the industrial period. Simultaneously, the intangible heritage, which is the social and cultural values evolved around industrialization in relation to these remains, is being recognized. As a result, the importance of the preservation and conservation of industrial monuments, as opposed to their demolition, has been the subject of discussion. Although “it is still an emerging concept as far as landscape architectural projects are concerned with these new landscape typologies of great complexity” (Sutestad & Mosler 2016, 322), various ways of revitalizing former industrial sites have, to a certain degree, already been established. Today, abandoned and unused industrial sites are common destinations for cultural institutions and museums, as well as targets for the urban regeneration projects conducted by local and national authorities.
The main subject of this thesis is the concept, now a worldwide trend, of abandoned industrial sites and areas in poor condition being revitalized through becoming sites for cultural institutions, innovation centers and the music industry, and gaining new purposes and meanings through these renewal projects. “The remains of the past obtain a new, multi-‐dimensional role, as a source of new economic stability, cultural identity, and personal self-‐confidence of everyone who, through their inclusion in the revitalization process, were, directly or indirectly, provided with a new opportunity as a replacement of the job lost in a factory”. (Ifko 2016, 2042) Thus, this concept has already proved a successful method for bringing economic and social prosperity to decaying neighborhoods in large cities, and has considerable potential for creating and promoting an attractive city image and identity. Within this context, contemporary and modern art museums in particular are also taking part in the urban renewal projects in order to open up space for new displays, new institutional identities, and most importantly, new ways of attracting more visitors and a larger public. So, how the conversion of former industrial sites into art museums has altered the curatorial practice, the image and experience of the art museums?
The research will investigate the ways in which former industrial sites converted into art museums affect and change the organizational dynamics of museums, through a comparative study of three cases from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Turkey. It will aim to find answers to the research question by showing the links that art museums have with various discourses today, such as industrial heritage, urban regeneration, leisure and cultural tourism, creative class and the experience economy. Although it can be understood merely as an architectural shift in the museology, the fact that the architectural choices of museums has become a
subject that much has been written on. As Stephanie Moser also points out “the location and the setting of museums are key factors in evaluating the epistemological significance of museum displays”, continuing “the importance of features and iconic status of museum buildings in influencing how collections are perceived, as can the location of museums in cities or rural environments, and in purpose-‐built structures reconstructed ancient sites.” (Moser 2010, 24) Therefore, this thesis will describe a particular type of architectural setting for museums, former industrial sites that are directly linked to local history, and the way in which museums have used these spaces according to their needs. The large scale and certain other characteristics of industrial buildings offer both freedom and limitations for the curatorial approach and the display of collections, and various art museums have faced these challenges in similar ways. While dealing with the physical realities, museums have reframed the identity of post-‐industrial sites and combined it with their own image in order to embed the museum in the locality. Since all aspects of the museums are interconnected, the industrial heritage setting alters the experience of visitors and the sense of place, or genius loci. Overall, these aspects come together to create a new setting for the museum, a phenomenon that is widely used today.
Industrial sites and museums cannot be considered independently from the society they are part of, as both are places of memory and reflections of local and national identity. It is fascinating to observe how museums adapt themselves to this environment, which already carries the weighted history and memory of a certain era, when choosing former-‐industrial sites as an architectural manifestation for their institutions. Also, by bringing their own identities and cultural inputs to the abandoned places, museums give new purposes and meanings to the non-‐ functioning spaces. According to Richard Florida, “Creativity involves the ability to synthesize… It is a matter of shifting through data, perceptions and materials to come up with combinations that are new and useful.” (Florida 2002) As a result, museums in industrial sites are generally perceived as spaces for creativity and artistic innovation, besides being places to be preserved and conserved. Therefore, industrial heritage also transforms museums, while museums adapt the industrial heritage to the world of today.
In order to clearly delineate the subject, it is important to go over the definitions and the historical background of the subject’s main terms, such as industrial heritage and museum. Since both are developing concepts even today, it is useful to briefly enquire into how they evolved over time and generations and how they are framed within the context of the research. That being said, it is also important to keep in mind that the research focuses solely on industrial heritage within a European context, although a significant industrial heritage exists elsewhere, especially on the American continent.
Industrial heritage
Industrialization is not only an economic development in the history of civilizations, but also an undeniable factor in the political, social and cultural discourse of a
particular period of European history. More precisely, the time span referred by “the industrial period”, dates back to the Industrial Revolution in the mid-‐18th century and reached its peak in the 19th and mid-‐20th centuries when immense production mostly took place in European cities, as well as in the other industrial regions. During the 1950s, European economic and urban systems shifted towards a service economy, and continued to develop, along with the progress of technology that offered alternative means of production. Moreover, the loss of colonies, which were able to provide raw materials such as coffee, tobacco or textile, was impactful on the weakening of imperial power that maintained sources for industry and for the infrastructure of industrial regions. This resulted in the bankruptcy of heavy industry, causing the sudden disruption of various industrial productions. The deindustrialization of cities due to this disruption led to the abandonment of industrial sites, and on the social and economic level resulted in unemployment. For this reason, industrial buildings were gradually emptied and began to decay.
According to the Nizhny Tagli Charter by The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), industrial heritage ‘’consists of the remains of industrial culture, which are of historical, technological, architectural or scientific value’’ (TICCIH, 2003). Factories, power stations, workshops, maintenance centers, train stations, waterfronts are among the centers of the various industries that took place in urban settings throughout Europe, and today they constitute the physical remains of this industrial heritage. As we can see in the definition of industrial heritage, this discourse cannot be reduced to the physical appearance of the industry, but should be “understood and respected for both its technical function and its social role” (Aas, Ladkin ve Fletcher 2005)1 In order to understand the impact and the range of industrial complexes, it is important to understand them, along with their effects on the social, political and cultural levels of their surroundings.
The working class was the nucleus of industrialization, and the ways in which the means of production organized its daily life can be observed again through its effect on urban planning. Working centers of the industry were not able to function and expand on their own, but they had the power to boost the development of infrastructure and the transportation networks of the cities they were placed in. Without providing the necessary conditions for the workers, such as easy access to the workplace and the city via railways, or affordable housing for the accommodation of the workers, the industry would not have been able to progress and attain its current size. Gradually the economic system also produced the memory and identity originating from industrial culture, and their mechanisms become a reflection of an age. (Prat Forga & Canoves Valiente 2015, 278)
Over the course of time, the social value of the sites has been recognized and their historical value acknowledged, and discussions on how to deal with them have taken
1 Cited in the article by Prat Forga, José Maria, and Gemma Canoves Valiente. "Cultural change
place from the 1960s and 1970s onwards. The ways of dealing with the industrial heritage chosen by local authorities had several outcomes. Before being recognized as places of local memory, many had been facing threats of demolition, and of being replaced by revenue making projects. Several scholars who first used the term “industrial archeology” made the first suggestions for the preservation and the conservation of the industrial culture and the industrial landscape. In the 1950s Dudley proposed the term industrial archeology (Sutestad & Mosler, 2015, 323), which later developed into the term industrial heritage. Following Dudley’s proposal, Rix used the term industrial heritage in 1955 (Mundo-‐Hernandez, Valerdi-‐ Nochebuena ve Sosa-‐Oliver 2015, 332) and introduced social and cultural debt into the discourse. Officially, the term was used by UNESCO in 1972, and recognized as an intangible heritage that covers the expressions of everyday life (Mundo-‐Hernandez, Valerdi-‐Nochebuena ve Sosa-‐Oliver 2015, 332). Defining and accepting the former industrial sites with the status of heritage, as products of a social and economical phase of history, raised new questions on how to maintain these old sites and open them up to public access in new forms. The need to fabricate new meanings for the sites and return them to the local community as a new cultural heritage has led to new ideas for reusing and renovating the industrial spaces without losing their epistemological meanings.
It is not a coincidence that industrial heritage tourism has emerged within this period as a marketing strategy to promote local industries in the era of globalization, and to stimulate a larger tourist flow to the industrial destinations. The authenticity of the local, “based on experiencing the places and activities that authentically represent the historic, cultural and natural resources of a given area or region, becomes an important part of cultural tourism” (Prat Forga & Canoves Valiente 2015, 267). Among many examples, the renowned Ruhr area of Germany is defined by its mining industries, whereas Amsterdam-‐Noord has been characterized by the NDSM shipyard and by the oil company Shell. Turin is identified with its automobile industry, much as Bilbao is associated with iron and steel industry. For this reason, the marketing of these cities is taking industrial heritage tourism into account as a way of creating an urban identity by distinguishing particular local areas from others all around the world.
When cultural institutions renovate and reuse abandoned industrial buildings, these sites no longer constitute symbols of decay giving instead the message that humanity is able to create new forms from the old and create new meaning. Moreover, It means using the past and present to support the development of their localities as learning communities, so that people can have an informed involvement in decision making about their futures. (Black 2012, 268)2
Museums in the contemporary context
2 Black, Graham. "Embedding Civic Engagement in Museums." In Reinventing the Museum: the evolving conversation on the paradigm shift, edited by Gail Anderson, 267-‐287. New York:
Since the 19th century, museums have become representative of the structures of power, and have developed into shrine-‐like institutions, thus declaring the museum’s authority (Marstine 2006, 9). Considering national museums such as the Rijksmuseum, the Louvre Museum and the British Museum, it is safe to say that museums have been the setting for the preservation and conservation of a selective narrative and history of nations. This is due to the fact that museums have been operating as educational institutions where the strengths and achievements of humanity are displayed through objects, artistic productions or scientific discoveries. Over the course of the 20th century, while various artists, curators and museum professionals have challenged these aspects, changes in cultural policies have prompted a radical transformation in the institutional aspects of museums.
During the 1980s, considerable financial cuts in cultural funding by governments, not only in Europe but also in many other parts of the world, have led museums to search for new ways of making revenue and of operating with a self-‐sufficient structure. The remodeling of museums into more business-‐like economic systems has inevitably changed the museum discourse. Museum visitors, who provide the economic flow directly and indirectly, have become one of the key measures to keep generating income, and ultimately to keep the museums operating. Without the demand created by the visitors, not only through ticket and shop sales, which could be defined as the direct economic flow, but through the credibility and popularity of the museum without which the indirect flow, through private support and sponsorship, would be in danger. As a result, the effect of economic concerns on museums and the ways in which museums have begun to operate like companies, with corporate-‐like management and marketing strategies, are still being widely debated.
The organizational change within museums has also put the public in a different position, one in which they act as consumers, rather than solely as visitors, and they have a more participatory status in the practices of the institutions. The authority of the museum as an educational institution has been opened up to questioning and debate, and a more diverse public, who can also criticize and put forward their own suggestions, is invited in. Eventually, “museum constituencies are asserting their claims for programs and services” (Kotler & Kotler 2010, 272). How visitors perceive art museums and their collections has shifted and the renewed expectations are now based more on the authentic experiences that museums can offer. Although the nucleus of the museum is the collection that identifies the institution, exhibitions and events conducted in the institution have become equally attractive and vital.
Responding to the conditions and demands of contemporary times has resulted in alternative practices derived from the authentic aspects of the locality. In other words, museums have begun looking more into the identity and local aspects of the society they are part of, in order “to establish a distinguishable image of themselves within the global cultural market, attracting tourism and multinational investment,
which consequently leads to regional economic growth” (Avgita 2009, 91)3. The undeniable presence and impact of cultural tourism have inevitably shaped the marketing strategies and identity of the museums, which are highly dependent on the potentially income brought by visitors.
Art museums and industrial heritage tourism as branches of cultural tourism, and the outcomes of the combination of both would be the main concern of the thesis. The spatial context is a major factor in the experience of art museums, and it emphasizes the authenticity of the space by highlighting local identity and memory. Post-‐industrial sites are therefore able to provide the necessary conditions for art museums to foster and promote a creative, local and unique image that can attract visitors to experience places that they cannot otherwise experience.
Research
The case studies of the research are three modern and contemporary art museums, located in various cultural and post-‐industrial contexts in different countries. Due to my background, I have taken a case study both from my home country, Turkey, and from the Netherlands, where I study; İstanbul Museum of Modern Art and De Pont Museum in Tilburg. My third case study, the Tate Modern in London, has been an influential initiative spearheading the concept throughout Europe, and inspirational in researching the thesis subject.
Moreover, the case studies can be considered in a chronological order in that the establishment of three museums follow each other, and have an interconnection through the influence they have on each other. De Pont Museum in Tilburg, Netherlands, having been inaugurated in 1992, can be seen as one of the first examples of this particular concept. The building of the museum has been converted from the former wool-‐spinning mill, closed down in 1990. De Pont Museum has also been an inspiration to the Tate Modern, which opened in 2000. Transformed from a power station, Tate Modern’s influence on museology has been tremendous, and increased the popularity of the concept of revitalizing abandoned sites through cultural capital, particularly through art museums. Tate Modern has developed a successful formula guaranteeing a particular fresh and ‘cool’ space for art museums of the new age. Both its opening up of new opportunities for museum practices and its transformative effect on its Bankside surroundings have been impressive and influential. Therefore, İstanbul Modern, opened in 2004 and located in a warehouse on the waterfront of Karaköy region, can be seen as one of the direct results of its influence. İstanbul Modern was to promote a more westernized and secular Turkish identity, and it established this image by associating itself with the Tate Modern, showing how the concept could be applied in contexts out of Western Europe.
The fundamental reasons for choosing these particular examples are the similarities in their re-‐using of former industrial spaces and the images they create through the revitalization of the space. The three art museums are also each focused on
3 Avgita, Louisa. "Marketing Difference: The Balkans on Display." In The Global Art World, edited
displaying modern and contemporary art, although the scale of their collection varies according to the museum. While the collection of İstanbul Museum of Modern Art is based on long-‐term loans and private collection, De Pont Museum is still in the process of gradually developing its collection, and that of the Tate Modern was well established even before the museum was inaugurated. The importance of the collection of an art museum is undeniable, yet the main departure point of the thesis will be not necessarily the collection itself, but the similarities of choices concerning what and how artworks are put on display, either as a part of the permanent collection or as part of temporary exhibitions.
The architectural setting of the art museums forms the basis of the subject matter of the thesis, so I will be referring to studies on the museum architecture and design widely. The architect Ian Ritchie’s thoughts on museum buildings have been especially influential, particularly his connection between image, container and contents (Ritchie 1994, 12)4. Three terms he used have been inspirational to divide the subject of the research into following parts: curatorial practices and display of collections as the content, the experience as the container, and their industrial buildings as the image. It should be noted that the image is taken as both what museums prefer to create as knowledge and how visitors understand and experience it, “products of the joint creative work undertaken in this potential space” (Silverstone 1994, 173).5 Also throughout the thesis, Pine and Gilmore’s renowned work on the experience economy will be taken as a basis for defining the economic value of experience in post-‐industrial sites. Furthermore, in relation to the experience economy Richard Florida’s research on the creative class mainly depicts the target audience of post-‐industrial sites, and is a departure point in understanding the perceptions and motivations of today’s consumers/visitors.
The thesis aims to encapsulate an extensive research on the theoretical and academic literature related to the topics of urban regeneration, leisure industry, modern and contemporary art museums and their curatorial practices, as well as the marketing strategies that museums use. Along with the literary research, on-‐site research is very important for the development of the argument and interviews with museum directors, Hendrik Driessen of De Pont Museum and curators, Maria Schnyder, De Pont Museum and Lora Sarıaslan, İstanbul Modern, have given valuable insights on the practical ways of using the space.
4 Ritchie, Ian. "An architect's view of recent developments in European museums." In Towards
the Museum of the Future: New European Perspectives, edited by Roger Miles and Lauro Zavala, 7-‐
30. London and New York: Routledge, 1994.
5 Silverstone, Roger. "The Medium is the museum: on objects and logics in times and spaces." In Towards the Museum of the Future: New European Perspectives, edited by Roger Miles and Lauro
Chapter 1
Historical background of industrial sites and variations of their
revitalization
1.1 A brief historical background of industrial heritage tourism
As the presence of industrialism vanished noticeably from urban settings towards the 1970s, the question of how to cope with its monumental remains has become a solid question for local authorities and stakeholders. Visible social and economic consequences of rapid deindustrialization have been experienced in society, particularly in the form of unemployment. The sudden disappearance of industries that had been able to employ hundreds of workers obviously modified the nature of the neighborhoods and societies evolving around and with them. Large scale abandoned sites were mostly situated in advantageous locations of the cities, and so could easily be replaced by various urban projects with the potential to generate economic growth in their local surroundings and urban setting. As a result, many former industrial sites faced the threat of destruction before their heritage value was fully recognized. “The market defines the parameters of a range of commodities from which people can choose” (Walsh 1992, 116), and it was clear that demolishing industrial sites would be much more costly than the alternative. “It should never be forgotten that it is anathema for capital to consider making a loss, unless it is potentially beneficial in the long term” (Walsh 1992, 116). In line with the rise of the leisure and tourism sector in this period, the strategy of demolishing industrial sites proved itself to be an unfavorable approach for the social and economic dynamics of the transforming urban settings in Europe. On the contrary, as heritage and cultural tourism turned out to be one of the main aspects of attracting an international audience, industrial heritage became a valuable asset to the tourism sector and a strategy “to wallpaper over the cracks of inner city decay in an attempt to attract revenue of one sort or another” (Walsh 1992, 135), both for local residents and for the creative industries.
As a part of cultural and leisure tourism, industrial heritage tourism gradually evolved into a concept that has shaped the fates of abandoned industrial sites and regions in several ways. “Once sites, buildings, objects, technologies, or ways of life could no longer sustain themselves as they formerly did, they ‘survived’ – were made economically viable – as representations of themselves” (Kirshenblatt-‐ Gimblett 1998, 151). Industrial sites were identified by their authentic features and by their ability to give particular characteristics to their urban landscape and society. In other words, they became not solely representations of themselves as a factory, mining area or shipyard, but embodiments of a particular social and economic history of the region that had been driven by a particular industry. In this way, the attraction of industrial heritage tourism is established based on the authentic experience of a specific time, place and history and the aspects that rendered the place distinguishable from others.
The importance of authenticity and experience is explored in depth in Joseph Pine and James Gilmore’s extensive research on the experience economy. According to the scholars, experience is a contemporary economic value, after the goods and service economies, and it engages individual customers in a way that creates a memorable event. In other words, “commodities are fungible, goods are tangible, services intangible, and experiences memorable” (Pine II & Gilmore 1998, 98), and “the value of experiences lies within them (people), where again it remains long afterward” (Pine II & Gilmore 2013, 26). Therefore, what we remember of the experience makes the product permanent in our minds and consequently, makes it worth buying. Moreover, as “authenticity becomes the new consumer sensibility” (Pine II & Gilmore 2007, 76), due to our desire to experience the real and genuine, it becomes one of the parameters for measuring the value of the memorable experience. This experience economy is applied across many levels of the tourism sector, including cultural tourism. As a part of this field, industrial heritage tourism offers the possibility of experiencing the post-‐industrial sites in their authentic form, as well as providing additional cultural experiences along with the value of the space.
Keeping this in mind, the Blue Banana6 corridor in Europe, which includes the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, is notable for the density of industrialization and urbanization. (Figure 1)
Figure 1: The Dorsale Européene (L. Brunet, 1989)
6 Blue Banana is the concept first proposed by French geographer Roger Brunet in 1989. The concept
refers to the metropolitan axis of Western and Central Europe, where the urbanization and
accumulation of capital is denser. Brunet developed his ideas about the ‘backbone’ of Europe, when he wanted to situate the France within the framework of European development. See for
Early examples of industrial heritage tourism could be observed in the UK, “where the decline of manufacturing started earlier than in the rest of Europe” (Hospers 2002, 398), emerging as part of a policy of regional restructuring. The rise of the industrial heritage tourism in the UK escalated with following motivations:
“Within the tourism industry this industrial heritage has been acknowledged as a resource which imparts considerable strength to the overall British tourism product. The full potential of this inheritance remains to be exploited and 1993 was designated Industrial Heritage Year, heralding a campaign which aimed to improve the image of, and generate increased public awareness and interest in industrial heritage as well as improving its marketing and promotion, encouraging more cooperation between the industrial heritage sector and the tourism industry at large, raising standards of exhibit presentation and interpretation, developing educational programs, and providing a ‘shop window’ for British innovation and enterprise.” (Goodall 1993, 93)
In addition to practices in the UK, the renowned Ruhr area in Germany has been a powerful influence on many European cities, stimulating a range of concepts and approaches in industrial heritage tourism. The Ruhr area implemented initiatives within the social and economic spheres, which led to dramatically decreased unemployment and redefined local identity. As a result, an overlooked population was able to improve their living standards through newly developed economic opportunities, as well as finding new reasons to be proud of their locality. The former coal mining area consists of 53 cities which are now interconnected via industrial heritage tours, such as The Route of Industrial Heritage tour established in 1999 “to give first hand insight into the diverse facets of the industrial heritage landscape of the Ruhr area” (The Route of Industrial Heritage). Through thematic tours visitors can experience several different types of reused industrial site. One of these alternative ways of visiting the Ruhr area is the attending of art and culture tours, in which visitors can attend music festivals and theatre performances as well as visiting the exhibitions and museums that are spread over the region. Since the 1980s, when it hosted the International Building Exhibition Emscher Park (1988-‐ 1998) “the Ruhr has thought of itself as Europe’s laboratory for the revitalization of abandoned industrial areas.” (Braae 2015, 42)
Thematic tours and industrial routes based on particular industries have been a helpful tool in categorizing certain concepts and highlighting their authenticity. According to the World Heritage Committee, “heritage routes in general are based on the movements of population, encounters and dialogue, cultural exchanges and cross-‐fertilization, which take place in both space and time” (Report on the Expert Meeting on Routes as a Part of our Cultural Heritage 1994) The committee asks countries “to implement this new approach on a nationwide, regionwide and worldwide basis” (Ibid). Towards the end of millennium the focus given to thematic tours within industrial heritage increased. In 1999, the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) was established with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. ERIH can be considered one of the most extensive European networks of industrial heritage, and operates a transnational web of 1,315 heritage sites in 45 countries (see figure 2 for distribution). The association’s aim is “to
support the transformation of industrial sites into by giving relevant tourist information on Europe’s industrial heritage” (ERIH'S History and Goals).
Figure 2: I Want to Go There! (European Route of Industrial Heritage, 2017)
Since the 1990s the promotion of industrial heritage on a grand scale has attracted the attention of the creative sector more than ever before. ERIH supports “the use of industrial heritage sites to create new and classical products, as well as the goods and services of the so-‐called Creative Industries, following the concept of ‘regeneration through heritage’” (ERIH'S History and Goals) In his influential book, The Rise of the Creative Class (2002), Richard Florida describes the creative class as the new leading class defining the economic and social systems of the last few decades. According to the scholar, establishing a creative city is one of the key factors in establishing and attracting this creative class. This is because “regional economic growth is powered by creative people, who prefer places that are diverse, tolerant and open to new ideas… Places with diverse mixes of creative people are more likely to generate new combinations” (Florida 2002, 249). As a part of regeneration urban projects, post-‐industrial sites can contribute to the creative image of cities, and they are very appealing for the members of the creative class, both as actors taking part in the initiatives placed in post-‐industrial environments and as consumers. To put it simply, using post-‐industrial sites as contemporary art museums, cultural clusters, restaurants, concert halls and in many other different forms is creative. For this reason, regenerating industrial sites with creative, hi-‐tech and innovative sectors has become a new phenomenon. Or in ERIH’s words ‘’Not least, the thousands of ‘cathedrals of work’ became most popular as attractions of Europe’s cultural tourism with millions of visitors generating a spirit of change in the old factories. Industrial tourism is not a niche market, but a broad movement inspiring many people `` (ERIH'S History and Goals).
Florida also underlines the importance of experience for the creative class, as Pine and Gilmore suggested in their discussion of the experience economy. As discussed earlier, experience is one of the fundamental features of post-‐industrial sites regenerated through culture. Therefore, these initiatives match with the demands of the creative class and this is one of the reasons behind their increasingly popularity. Richard Florida quotes Carl Rogers study on being open to experience as implying “the lack of rigidity and permeability of boundaries in concepts, beliefs, perceptions and hypotheses. It means tolerance for ambiguity where ambiguity exits”. (Florida 2002, 168) The possibility of having a romantic dinner in an old pumping station clearly demonstrates the blurred lines between concepts and provides an authentic experience in a creative place. Authenticity is based, not only on the historical features of the place, but on experiencing the creative idea of combining a dinner activity with being in an old pump station. Consequently, this gives new identities to the locations as creative places, where there is flexibility as for both vagueness and for alternative ways of coexisting.
Although there are many different variations of ‘creative’ strategy for revitalizing the former industrial spaces, this research will focus mainly on the art museum versions of the concept. However, since all branches of cultural tourism are interconnected, it is important to examine the different ways of merging creative industries with post-‐ industrial sites and regions. Additionally, our perception of one cultural hub may, for example, change our perception of an art museum placed in an industrial site.
1.2 Post-‐industrial sites as cultural hubs
Cultural hubs within the context of industrial heritage tourism can be described as a combination of cultural activities taking place in a single environment and stimulating several experience opportunities within a singular context. For instance, going to a concert after visiting an exhibition in a former beer brewery shows how post-‐industrial sites offer numerous choices. Multiplying the ambiguities of different concepts, as Carl Rogers emphasized, multiplies the possible experiences and increase the attractiveness of the place to a much broader audience. In Florida’s words, it becomes ‘’not just one scene but many; a music scene, an art scene, a film scene, an outdoor recreation scene, nightlife scene, and so on – all of which reinforce one another” (Florida 2002, 183). The transformation of post-‐industrial sites into cultural hubs has been the most popular concept in terms of revitalization. The large scale of the buildings and regions makes room for broader collaborations among different branches of the creative sector, and consequently increases the potential for creativity. Therefore, they become places that are able to bring together numerous activities and initiatives, as well as provide opportunities for the local community to express their strong aspects and identities to a national and international audience. For example, in cultural hubs it is possible that communities could at the same time serve their traditional cuisine and display young contemporary artists in a different section.
Amsterdam, to name but one city, is a home of several post-‐industrial initiatives with diverse cultural focuses in each. In 2014, De Hallen was opened to the public, having been converted from a tram depot. Today De Hallen hosts a large food hall serving diverse cuisines, along with various initiatives such as a library, a movie theater, a boutique hotel and many more. (Figure 3) The characteristics of the building were kept as much as possible, meaning that visitors are still able to see tram rails on grounds of the complex7. Moreover, De Hallen continues to reflect on the history of the building by offering guided tours to interested visitors. Thus, the industrial heritage can be experienced either in an educational form or in its contemporary setting.
Figure 3: Illustration from Parool by Jorris Verboon and Chantal van Wessel
Westergasfabriek (2004) located in the west of Amsterdam, is also another large complex containing art galleries, restaurants and bars, as well as a nightclub. The Westergasfabriek was previously a coal gas factory for the Imperial Continental Gas Association (ICGS) until 1967, and has now become “the meeting place of choice for creative and innovative Amsterdam residents” (Westergasfabriek). Although it seems like Westergasfabriek is aimed only at the creative class of Amsterdam, this does not mean that international audiences are not targeted. In fact, WGF could be taken as an example of how city marketing and cultural tourism are intertwined in the promotion of post-‐industrial complexes. Amsterdam has an extensive city marketing that promotes the city as embodying certain values such as creativity, openness and flexibility. Consequently, these connotations also implied by “Amsterdam residents”, and this, in the case of WGF, becomes a marketing strategy. To put it simply, the act of going to places where “real” Amsterdam residents do has become a reference point for international tourists looking to experience the city in an “authentic” way as locals do.
7 To learn more about the renovation process, on the website of De Hallen Amsterdam visitors
