Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord, Industrial heritage park in Meiderich, Germany

Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is a former steelworks in the Meiderich district that connects blast furnaces, gas chambers and steel frames with meadows, paths and water surfaces. The site extends over a sprawling area where industrial buildings stand next to trees and pipelines wind through green spaces.

The site produced steel and iron between 1901 and 1985, when operations stopped due to economic changes. Landscape architects began reshaping it in the early nineties, preserving the industrial structure while adding green areas.

The park's nickname is Landi, though visitors sometimes call it LaPaDu. Its design by Peter Latz kept the blast furnaces, bunkers and gas tanks in place and gave them new roles: gas tanks became scuba pools, concrete walls are used by climbers, and 49 steel plates from the foundry pits form the Piazza Metallica, a gathering place for events. The Emscher canal runs straight as before, its water level marked by soil mounds.

Visitors can explore the entire area on foot, as paths connect the main structures and lead to viewing points on the blast furnaces. Sturdy shoes are recommended since metal grates and uneven surfaces appear on many routes.

A former gasometer now houses Europe's deepest diving pool with artificial reefs and sunken objects at 43 feet (13 meters) depth. Concrete storage units now serve as climbing walls where athletes ascend between rusty steel beams.