Lost Town – one of the winners in the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) landmark east international ideas competition is the centre piece of an exhibition in Munich this week aimed at promoting the East of England in Germany.
Lost Town, conceived by award-winning Munich-based architects Anne Niemann and Johannes Ingrisch, is the focus for a landmark east exhibition at the Architekturgalerie – a highly respected gallery which has exhibited the work of many luminaries in the world of architecture over the years
EEDA has given its backing to the exhibition because Germany is the second biggest tourism market for the East of England and the event offers an excellent opportunity to promote all four landmark east projects as well as the East of England more generally. Over 200,000 German visitors come to the region every year, making Germany the second biggest overseas visitor market after the US.
The Munich exhibition focuses around Lost Town – a creative proposal to recreate the Church of All Saints in Walton-on-the-Naze in the form of a sculpture at its original site in the sea. The sculpture would be an iconic piece of art and a poignant symbol of the impact of coastal erosion which threatens much of the East of England’s coastline.
The proposal has the support of Tendring District Council, the Naze Protection Society and Walton Forum among others. The views of local people were sought at a recent residents meeting. Whilst concerns were raised about traffic, visitor numbers and yachting/navigation issues, the concept was broadly supported by the majority of attendees as a welcome catalyst for the potential regeneration of Walton-on-the-Naze.
As an innovative and creative piece of public art, Lost Town could equally be a true landmark for the East of England – an icon to put the region on the map, nationally and internationally and help support the growth of tourism in the region.
Rachel Bosworth, EEDA’s director of communications said:
“Tourism is big business. It’s worth £5 billion to the region every year and Germany is an important market for us. Globally, tourism is highly competitive and this means cities, regions and countries increasingly need to distinguish themselves as a means of strengthening identity and attracting inward investment which leads in turn to jobs and long term economic prosperity.
”We are delighted to have the opportunity to promote the East of England at this exciting exhibition and hear views about the landmark projects and our region. Lost Town is an extremely innovative project that we very much hope the team will be able to realise but the exhibition also highlights the other three exciting landmark projects which we hope will progress.”
Anne Niemann of Niemann Ingrisch, the Lost Town team, said:
“Exhibiting on home territory is an exciting development for us. We really hope to be able to turn our idea into reality in Walton-on-the-Naze and it will be interesting to gauge the views of our fellow Germans. As key customers of tourist businesses in the East of England, their feedback will be extremely helpful.”
The exhibition is open from Tuesday 7 - 18 February 2006. It includes the other three landmark east projects:
East Reef - a landmark promenade stretching out to sea from Jaywick, Essex, with a dive centre onshore and lido on the beach. The project aims to act as a catalyst for the regeneration of Jaywick
Landscape east: bridge of reeds – an iconic bridge of (steel) reeds spanning the A14 and connecting Cambridge with thousands of hectares of green space, cycle routes and footpaths up to Wicken Fen
Watermarking: the dragonfly bridge - a movable ‘Dragonfly’ bridge with integral performance space which would be used as a focus for riverside events or festivals, travelling around the region’s waterways.
The four landmark east projects received funding from EEDA for feasibility studies which concluded in 2005. Each project was found to be technically feasible and the teams are now developing their ideas and talking to stakeholders and potential funders in the hopes of turning their vision into reality. EEDA’s role is as a facilitator, brokering relationships and championing the projects.
For more information please go to: www.landmarkeast.org.uk
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Notes to editors
- Facts about tourism in the East of England
- nearly 2m tourists come to the East of England every year
- 216,000 German tourists came to the East of England in 2004
- 185,000 people are employed in tourism in the East of England (8% of total employed)
- EEDA’s landmark east ideas competition was launched in October 2003. It generated 234 entries from all over the world. 12 entries were short listed and 4 received funding from EEDA for feasibility studies.
- EEDA is increasing its investment in the East of England Tourist Board to £1m (up from £500,000) for the year 2005/6 and refocusing the region’s tourism strategy to help increase tourism spend, jobs and skills.