düsseldorf, hafen

In Germany's Ruhr Valley I have focused on designer-intensive attempts to tranform former industrial zones into cultural lodestones. One type of urban structure under treatment is the "hafen", or port. This example, photographed from the massive TV tower that every German city seems to sport, is newly completed (see the 1997 Gehry project blooming in the foreground) and other efforts in Hamburg and Duisburg are gradually reaching fruition. Harboring offices, apartments, galleries, and chic spots-to-be, the new hafen ushers the (upscale) city back to its original lifeblood.