The Future Oilscape

Abstract

The world faces another energy transition. The fossil fuels era slowly transforms into the era of renewable energy. But what happens to the fossil fuel related industries. This project specifically focusses on the oil industry. Previous energy transitions in the Netherlands have given us much industrial heritage. The windmills of Kinderdijk, the Beemster polder and the mines in Limburg are just a few examples of such industrial heritage. Will the oil industry also give us an element to remember? The PICH Project, which is also included in the research, concluded that with industrial heritage, the physical elements of the site are preserved, but the story that comes with it, is not. Together with the current trend of storytelling and meaning of place, this is implemented in the research and design of the project. Theoretical research tells us that industrial heritage is not easy. Because of its specific and strange structures and elements, and its huge scale it is not an easy task to transform such sites and preserve them as they are. Many sources tell that re-use of such sites is still the best way to preserve them. The Emscher Park in Germany is the most famous example of industrial areas transformed and re-used in a recreational way. This project focusses on the harbour of Rotterdam and specifically on Pernis’ industrial area. Historical development research showed that the harbour grows out of the city towards the sea and Pernis is therefore the next area to transform when this development continues in the future. Pernis is not only the next area facing transformation, it is also the largest oil refinery in Europe and one of the largest in the world. This also gave a challenge in transformation possibilities in the design. To know how to deal with the area and what kind of functions are needed, future perspectives of involved stakeholders were analysed. This showed that population growth and renewable energy were subjects
that occurred frequently in these reports. Therefore, the design for a masterplan contains a residential area and an energy park. The design also shows three possibilities of what a certain area of Pernis could look like in the future.
A variety of images shows three different uses of how to preserve the oil industry of Pernis based on four core values that came out of the earlier research. Because the oil industry is still needed nowadays, and the future is unsure, despite the predictions of the end of oil, these images show a possibility of how to deal with the remains of the oil industry.