The light installation was put into operation as permanent lighting in December 1996. It was designed by British artist Jonathan Park. The three colors red, green and blue are reminiscent of the functions of the ironworks: fire and heat, gas and water. The Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park (also known as “LaPaNo” or “LaPaDu” for short) is a landscape park covering around 180 hectares surrounding a disused steelworks in Duisburg-Meiderich. The former plant was founded in 1902 by August Thyssen as a “joint-stock company for metallurgical operations” to supply his Siemens-Martin steelworks in Bruckhausen and Styrum, and went into operation on May 16, 1903, with the firing up of blast furnace 1. In 1985, blast furnace 5 was shut down after just twelve years of operation due to overcapacity on the European steel market, making it the last remaining blast furnace. In the 1990s, the halls, buildings, and outdoor areas were redesigned according to plans by architects Peter Latz + Partner. In 1994, the park was opened to the public.
Photographer: Dietmar Rabich
