Clean clothes are an important asset of a modern society. While today thousands of washing machines do their job spread all over town, once the act of washing clothes was an important public event. Mainly women gathered in washing houses even up to the seventies of the last century to wash the clothes for their families – and of course to chat about the latest news in town. The person of the “wash woman” is so archaic that she still lives in our memories and in childrens songs although the chatting today takes more and more place in the digital space.
“Beim Waschbuer” is a historic washing house located in the center of Differdange. The building is a memorial and part of the cities history but today closed for the public.
In our interviews in workshops and on the street many citizens of Differdange have expressed their wish to make this special place and its former determination tangible for today’s generations.
Design Challenge
Create an intervention that revitalizes the historic wash house Am Waschbuer and makes its former use tangible for the public.
Deliverables
Your submission should give a clear impression on your concept. Please provide
- a short introduction to your submission (about 200 words) that explains the artistic concept as well as the possibility to integrate the residents of Differdange into the creation and building process.
- At least 2 visualisations in sufficient quality that will give an understanding on the construction, functionality, technology and the materialisation of your intervention (e.g. sketches, 3D designs)
Guidelines
– Being a memorial the building Am Waschbuer must be treated with the highest care: e.g. no installations of paintings may be directly applied to the walls
– Located in the center of town your intervention may not create any noise after 8PM.
– The intervention must be safe for the public and the traffic
– The construction must be feasible
– The costs for the intervention – including the integration of the citizens of Differdange – should not exceed € 15’000€.
– You find more detailed guidelines here: https://contest.diffmix.lu/diffmix-contest-rules-of-engagement/
Materials
- More visual information on the location https://diffmix.lu/spaces/beim-waschbuer/
- More information on the history of Differdange: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differdange
- Additional information about the location may be provided throughout the process
- Please ask and discuss your questions by leaving a reply below.
Prizes
- The winning concept will receive a prize money of € 1’200, 2nd and 3rd place 600€ each.
- For the realization of the project including the involvement of the citizens of Differdange € 15’000 are available
- The winners will be invited to visit Differdange – including travel costs and accommodation.
6 Responses
Is the water of this wash house constantly flowing? Where is the water source?
The water is not floating anymore. We can try to find out why it got turned off.
Timothiy asked if an installation can be attached to the ceiling? “Seeing that it is made of rough cast concrete.”
We answered ” it has to be taken into consideration, that it is under Monument protection. So everything we finally want to do there needs to be approved by the relevant authority. We think we will not have a problem putting a ground rigg in there but we are not so sure about drilling holes in the ceiling.”
Can you hear traffic sounds inside the wash house? Or other sounds?
Hello,how about the Washington house in Niederkorn, he looks in very bad condition,i would like to have him to in some projects
Hey Alice, would be a great if we could extend DiffMix to further places in the future and find more spaces to enhance. Let us see what Esch2022 will bring after 2022, we as the DiffMix team will anyway stay in touch with the Gemeng 🙂