Can you imagine hotel rooms that are as simple and uncomplicated to use as a station luggage locker? Prompted by this idea, the artist Andreas Strauss developed his project »dasparkhotel«. For this, he converted commercially available sewage pipes into sleeping cabins that can be used individually by overnight guests at all hours, just by means of an electronic code-locked system of access. Each pipe is furnished for up to two people, including storage space and a bedside lamp, with a window for natural daylight.
»dasparkhotel« was first set up in Donaupark in Linz in 2004, then moved a year later to be permanently installed in Rodlgelände park in Ottensheim, Upper Austria. In the meantime, a specially developed sanitation pipe has been added. In 2010 a further site went into operation near the former sewage treatment plant in Bottrop-Ebel where altogether five ›sleeping pipes‹ and one sanitation container were installed. On the rear wall inside each of the pipes the artist Sophie Grebe created an individual wall painting.
From the outset, the artist’s idea was to create a network of these unconventional accommodation units based on a notion of common economic good. Situated on the banks of the Emscher, these refunctioned concrete pipes also allude to the larger purpose of the Emscher conversion: the river that was formerly subordinate to industrial purposes has now been invested with a new sojourn quality and hospitability for people and nature.
The »hospitality devices«, as Andreas Strauss calls the sleeping pipes, dissolve the boundaries between private and public space, and combine the individual experience of nature and the cultural realm with the comfort of an urban capsule hotel. In this respect, the work’s title »dasparkhotel« can be read as an ironic comment on the lure of commercial, touristic pledges. Besides its easy, 24/7 access via online booking, the non-profit-oriented operating concept is an integral conceptual component of the project which aims to offer accommodation to everyone for just a small financial contribution.
Completed in October 2010, since spring 2011 »dasparkhotel« in BernePark has been offering overnight stays during the warm season of the year for all-comers – whether cyclotourists, hikers or fugitives from everyday life. In 2019 »dasparkhotel« was adopted as a permanent artwork of the Emscherkunstweg.
Beautiful from above: The works of art on the Emscherkunstweg can also be admired from the air.
Credits: Film concept, camera, drone & post-production: Gionik Media GmbH, Dirk Gion Opterix, Johannes Kassenberg
Music & sound design: Samuel Brözel
MATERIAL
Pipes for overnight stay with electronic access system
Circular pipes of reinforced concrete with socket, bedclothes, mural painting
Dimensions pipe: outside Ø 240 cm, length 321 cm, inside Ø 200 cm, length 257 cm, weight approx. 7 t each
Ebelstrasse 25 a
46242 Bottrop
From Bottrop Hauptbahnhof (main station) with Bus 261 (towards Bottrop Bergbaustrasse) to the stop Bottrop Bergbaustrasse or S16 (towards Essen Hauptbahnhof) to the stop Bottrop Ebel, continue on foot for about 450 m.
The artwork is accessible all year round.
Bookable from May to October under www.dasparkhotel.net
