For the flâneur, the cityscape appears to be the landscape (Frisby 1994, 94). He creates an imaginative picture of the streets, the houses and the marketplace. The urban cityscape of Chemnitz provides the perfect base for the flâneur of creating an individual romantic picture of the city.
Chemnitz - City of the Modernity
On page 170 and 171 in Douglas Coupland’s book City of Glass, he presents a collage of a number of houses which were built in an architectural style that seems to be common in Canada. Wooden houses surrounded by rugged woodland, often with large glass facades seem to shape the Canadian cityscape and lndscape. Based on these pictures, I created a collage with pictures from Chemnitz facades. Typical for Chemnitz are the prefabricated buildings and the architectural style of the modernity. The Cityscape is also shaped by socialistic architecture of representation (Kühnel 2010, 12). In contrast to the Canadian natural architecture, the preferred construction material of the modernity was steel and concrete (Burkhard 2007, 77). Typical for the modernity was the ribbon window. This is for instance significant for the semicircular building known as Kaufhaus Schocken, which will be the future House of Archeology. It is noticeable that restoration works often reproduce the style of the modernity as it is the case with the Weinhold-Bau on the Campus of the Chemnitz University of Technology. And also the refurbished Rawema-Haus in the city center maintained the modernity.
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Street-Art
While wandering around the city of Chemnitz it was exciting to discover street art which fits into the cityscape and thus creates a kind of landscape. Chemnitz appears to be a creative and expressive city. The observer is in a position to have one's own thoughts on the matter. Thoughts are free to crate an own history and an own story about the signs and traces that some people left in Chemnitz.
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Nature takes back the City
At one time, the landscape was deprived of a piece of land in order to create cityscape. However, as the people left the cityscape to its own devices, the nature requests back this piece of land. The result is breaking tarmac, dandelion that puts yellow spots where some time ago people went up grey stairs and saplings that take roots where they once were ripped out.
Dash of Colour
Industrial Heritage
As former centre of mechanical engineering and textile industry, Chemnitz got the surname Saxon Manchester (Großmann 2007, 91). During the time of the industrialization, the appearance of the cityscape was dominated by factories and chimneys. A large number of industrial wastelands and all sizes of numerous chimneys are the leftovers of these times. However, even if the textile industry is no longer the drawing card of Chemnitz, and almost all chimneys stopped smoking, the city still remains a stronghold of mechanical engineering.
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The most common landmarks of the city of Chemnitz are the chimneys, and two of them stick out as the highest. However, just one of these contemporary witnesses of the industrial heritage seems to be still “awake”. During my time on the streets, I often heard people call this last fuming giant “Wolkenmaschine”, which means machine of clouds. In case the weather conditions are right, which means there have to be at least some clouds, it looks as if the chimney produces clouds that look like cotton balls.
In the context of an art project, the chimney will become colorful. Every segment will have a different color. Probably some people think this will posh the concrete colossus up, however for most of the Chemnitz inhabitants their well-known symbol will just look like a giant candy cane.
In the context of an art project, the chimney will become colorful. Every segment will have a different color. Probably some people think this will posh the concrete colossus up, however for most of the Chemnitz inhabitants their well-known symbol will just look like a giant candy cane.
Deliberation
Finding an oasis of calm and thoughtfulness is often difficult in a city. People hurry from one appointment to the next; sirens of ambulances fill the air with noise and hundreds of cars rush past in only a few minutes. Indeed, Chemnitz offers numbers of places where the people and thus the flâneur can be alone. With an abundance of parks, forests and ponds, the city and its surrounding regions invite everyone to stay.
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Urban Core
The city center of Chemnitz is a mixture of Modernity and classic architecture. The Neumarkt is surrounded by four impressive buildings. The Peek & Cloppenburg building with its glass facade and the first glass department store of Europe, the Galeria Kaufhof, flank the new municipal building which appears as a micture of Jugendstil, Gothic and German Renaissance. On the other side the terracotta facade of the Galerie Roter Turm gives Venetian atmosphere to the Neumarkt (Grossmann 2007, 136). At the same time, Galeria Roter Turm became the Chemnitz symbol for the modern marketplace and therefore the paradise for the flâneur.
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At the very outset, it was difficult to be a flâneur in Chemnitz. Probably it takes some time to identify with the role of the aimless wanderer. However, Chemnitz offers a wide range of possibilities to become the Flâneur. Due to the fact that this city offers a lot of arcades, it is possible to be the Flâneur in the original sense (Bauman 1994, 146). Some of these custom-made spaces can be found for instance in the area of the Rosenhof, behind the Karl-Marx Monument and on the Straße der Nationen between the Café Moskau and the Brückenstraße. Unfortunately, these spaces are more or less deserted. Most of the shops stand empty and thus there are few people to observe and also few opportunities to be the flâneur. Thus, it can be argued that in Chemnitz, the street is no longer a proper ground for flâneurie and according to Bauman (1994) this is a general issue (149). Due to the fact that the streets became dead space (Bauman 1994, 148), places developed, where the people wanted to stay. Shopping malls became a compromise of inside and outside, an inviting clean and secure space (Bauman 1994, 149). In Chemnitz, the new flâneur’s paradise became the Galerie Roter Turm. Situated in the town center, the mall offers an outside which became an inside. Plants imply that the nature is within the people’s reach. Sometimes it is possible to hear twittering of birds, at this place it is not necessary to mention that this comes from an audiotape. Often there are exhibitions which change monthly and thus create a themed shopping atmosphere. This place is always crowded and provides the perfect hunting ground for the flâneur.
Under Construction
Europes greatest Judendstil district
The Kaßberg in Chemnitz is the greatest coherent Jugendstil district in Europe (Mischke 2004, 134). It is a pleasure to wander around this district and have a close look at all the artfully designed facades which are, like the house entrances, often handpainted. Bowfronts and forged balcony railings adorn the cityscape of this district.
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Old and New
Contrasting University
Landmarks
click the Arcades of Chemnitz to stroll the City at Night