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Architects: NU architectuuratelier
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Photographs:Stijn Bollaert
C-tour is the winning project for the design of an underground tourist attraction within the reconversion of the old mine-complex of Winterslag in Genk. C-tour is a tour under and above the ground, with focal point on the experience, made by linking some existing subterranean mine-industry constructions with new structures and tunnels.
The old ventilation shaft is the start of C-tour. In this shaft some new elements are implemented and organised in order to create new relations with the public square above the ground and to introduce the aspect of creativity into these rough, functional spaces.
C-tour takes the visitors through a range of different disorienting spaces, starting with an archive that carries out the memory of the mine-industry, a space designed to experience the specific aspects of sound and image, an art gallery that invites artists to make site-specific installations and finally at the end a monumental Double Helix staircase which brings the visitors to the top of the highest shaft-tower of Belgium, giving a magnificent view on the surrounding landscape and the whole industrial site.
