:terra nova BiosphereBand Rhine-Erft district | D

The plans for :terra nova weave the knowledge and use of the landscape surrounding them into a new authentic landscape that is clearly different from the previous recultivation landscapes. A conscious decision is made not to restore and repair the landscape, but instead to formulate a new landscape image. The industrial and mining interventions in the region are to remain legible in the landscape and incorporate future landscape scenarios.

:terra nova is developing a landscape shaped by open-cast lignite mining into a new type of landscape space - the Rhine-Erft Energy Park - which combines ecological, sustainable, social and economic aspects of energy production, landscape use and nature development in a new way and shows a perspective for the time after coal for this landscape space. The mining company RWE, the Rhine-Erft district and the towns of Bedburg, Bergheim and Elsdorf are working together on an inter-municipal basis on this unique project. :terra nova covers an area of 35 sq km and is being developed via a master plan drawn up in 2007 by bbz landschaftsarchitekten/Ernst Scharf, Architekt.

The BiospärenBand is one of the three central building blocks of :terra nova and the result of a transformation process of a former overburden belt route into a nature, leisure and recreation belt. The 14 km long route for the former earth conveyor belt is cut straight into the landscape in a width of 100 m with 10 m high emission protection walls on both sides of the route.
The artificial topography of the overburden belt facility was preserved on the outside by bbz landschaftsarchitekten/Ernst Scharf, architect, within the spatially protected location special vegetation communities and landscape space types develop. This newly created BiosphärenBand tells the geological history of the formation of brown coal in the region in sequences of different landscape types - between power station and open-cast mine. For this purpose, preglacial landscape types such as bald cypress forests, pine forests and sand dune dry grasslands were created within the route, producing varied spatial sequences. Individual areas were backfilled with 4 million cubic meters of tertiary overburden material and dunes were shaped with GPS-controlled crawler vehicles based on a 3D model. Selected woody plants and the development of special seedings ensured the initial colonisation of this space as initial planting. The enclosed space of the former route was preserved.
Long ramps lead from the bridges onto the route and link it with the leisure and recreational trail network in the surrounding area.
As a visible sign of the intervention and landscape change, the wildlife fences that protect the vegetation islands from wildlife browsing in the coming years were made of orange avalanche protection fences.
In summer 2013, the InfoBoxes were inaugurated. At special landscape locations in the biosphere band, they are intended to convey the landscape process in terms of content via exhibitions.
The system of InfoBoxes and gangways as places of information and marking spans the entire :terra nova area as an energy landscape and shows the structural and functional interrelationships of the energy region. They are important nodes and event points and serve as architectural signs of the overall space. Visible from afar, they serve as landmarks in the energy landscape. Last but not least, they are highly attractive places for tourism and local recreation.

Climate Adaptation and Sustainability AwardGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2017

Jury verdict: As part of the cultural landscape transformation process, the landscape shaped by opencast lignite mining is to be transformed into an energy cultural landscape. The former route of the earth conveyor belt was transformed into a leisure and recreation belt instead of being deconstructed and represents the connecting backbone of the Rhein-Erft Kreis Energy Park. On the one hand, it depicts the history of energy production from coal-fired power stations to electricity generation, while on the other hand it shows the different types of landscape in which lignite was formed. Thus, the long-term process of the emergence of this energy source is shown and brought into awareness.

The striking information boxes inform and show the functional interrelationships of the energy region. The plantings not only characterize the different landscape types, but also respond in their selection to the sometimes extreme site conditions, thus ensuring sustainable development. Through the distinctive orange-coloured wildlife fences, however, they also show the renewed human intervention and create a new identity for the site. This creates a long-term landscape repair or further development that is also effective in climatic terms.