Terraforming
Reclaiming post-mining territory as an unfinished laboratory for an integrative transformation
D. Lachtara (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
A.S. Alkan – Mentor (TU Delft - Theory, Territories & Transitions)
T. Kuzniecow Bacchin – Mentor (TU Delft - Urban Design)
F.J. Speksnijder – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / AE+T)
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Abstract
The departure from coal in Poland results in the process of decommissioning the underground coal mines. These, based in the region of Upper Silesia, recently undergo a paradigm shift ‘from mining coal to mining water’, as the discharge of the groundwaters is crucial for underground security.
Rather than an obstacle, the discharged groundwaters, along with the post-mining infrastructure, can be treated as an asset for the systemic remediation of the post-mining territory. Thus, the preliminary research is structured around multiscalar remediation that considers the degraded environment, local society, and mindset. The subsequent design project entails a systemic intervention at the intersection of land- and built forms aimed at the multilayered remediation where water constitutes both the axis and the core of the unfinished terraforming laboratory.