Wielki Piec Huty Pokój w Rudzie Śląskiej

For generations, the smelter has been the center of community life. It gave rhythm, built identity, pride, ethos of work, family, community. As soon as production stopped, this connection of the place with the inhabitants was severed. The aim of the regeneration of the Blast Furnace is to restore these values to the local community, but in a different dimension. Surrounding the furnace is a new public space — a garden and at the same time a place for meetings, collective events. Familok benches scattered among greenery in the shade of metallurgical installations are an invitation to meet generations: former workers, their children and grandchildren. The public square — a garden whose vaults are the structures of the technological chain of the steel mill — will become the living room of the city marked by its historical identity, but also facing the future. We want to convey the values of Silesia's industrial heritage not only in the form of knowledge, but personal experience. Direct contact with the technological installations will allow visitors to feel the power of the industrial process, understand the ethos and reality of the hard work of a metallurgist, risk and responsibility, and formerly associated with the Huta — cultivating a sense of pride and dignity of their profession. The educational goal of the project is to involve the viewer in the personal experience of the blast furnace through the path of the blast furnace process, contact and insights into the original technological elements or introduction to the interior of the installation. It is also important to bring the original designs of the furnace assembly to life with various material and multimedia solutions. The narrative, related to the enormity of industrial processes and the value of human labor, will be conducted in authentic interiors — in the control room building and in the Great Furnace itself. The opening at the height of the space allows you to enter the center of the furnace at its widest point. The temperature inside will be raised, and the walls will act as screens on which the multimedia show takes place. Using light and projection, you can visualize the stratification of temperatures, animate the process of filling the furnace with ore, coke and limestone. The water vapor filling the interiors and its illumination would show the high temperatures and pressure that filled the heaters. The observation would also be accompanied by the experience of touching dirty walls and their authentic smell. The entire team of Huta Pokój, its large sculpture and interiors tell the story of the development of the industry, but above all the story of the people for whom the smelter was a place of work and even a whole life. The Great Furnace after revitalization will become a testimony to the contemporary transformation of the entire region — a symbol of the transition from the era of heavy industry, “coal and steel”, to the future — the era of sustainable development, greater harmony with nature. The Great Furnace was extinguished for ecological reasons, which is why this place is perfect for building a new consciousness. We would like to green not only the terrain, but also the elements of the Great Furnace, giving expression to the climate change that is taking place all over the world. Among and around the facilities of the former smelter, a garden would be created in the form of islands of low greenery organically overgrowing the metallurgical installations on the ground floor. By gradually changing the height of the grasses, the greenery would smoothly pass into the paths and the square. Such a treatment would emphasize the transformation of the industrial area into a space for residents.

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