Forum :terra nova, Tourism office at Tagebau Hambach, Elsdorf, Germany

Forum :terra nova is a multifunctional building at the northeastern rim of the Hambach open-cast mine near Berrendorf-Wüllenrath, opened on 25 May 2012. Designed by architect Dirk Lüderwaldt and landscape architect Dirk Melzer, its exposed-concrete facade is layered and roughly milled to resemble a stone block pushed up from the earth, with grass growing on the roof. Inside, two exhibition halls are linked by a narrow corridor with funnel-shaped openings framing views of the mine.

Forum :terra nova was built as part of the :terra nova project within Regionale 2010, a North Rhine-Westphalia structural programme. The groundbreaking took place on 3 May 2010, attended by state premier Jürgen Rüttgers and Elsdorf mayor Wilfried Effertz. RWE Power funded the construction with about four million euros, and the building opened on 25 May 2012.

Forum :terra nova sits at the edge of the Hambach open-cast mine, giving visitors a direct look at an operation that has shaped the lives of people in the region for generations. The indoor exhibitions show how local communities changed as mining expanded across the landscape.

Access to the exhibition level is via a slowly rising staircase or an elevator at the rear of the building; the two darkened exhibition halls are linked by a narrow corridor whose funnel-shaped openings frame focused views toward the mine. The forecourt, designed as a terrace and open-air stage, serves as a starting or end point for guided excursions into the mining area and as a stop on the "Gardens of Technology" walking route.

The Hambach mine visible from the center's viewing platform reaches down to around 980 feet (300 meters), making it one of the deepest holes ever dug in Europe. The scale is hard to grasp until you spot the machinery at the bottom, which looks tiny from the rim but is actually several stories tall.