Essay in the publication Traumfabriken

April 2025

Innovation in knowledge work today is based more than ever on diversity, networking and exchange. At the same time, there is a growing realization that cities, in the sense of a productive city, are not only dependent on knowledge and service work, but also on material production as an economic activity.

Against this backdrop, Markus Weismann and Nadine Funck have written an essay on the further development of monofunctional industrial and commercial areas into industrial districts. In their text, they analyze the drivers of this transformation, identify potential and use examples and five theses to show what such further development could look like in concrete terms.

The essay is part of the comprehensive publication “Traumfabriken”, which has now been published by Penguin Random House. On the opening day of the world’s most important industrial trade fair, the Hannover Messe, the book premiere was celebrated this week with all those involved.

The publication is dedicated to the importance of industrial architecture and, in its breadth, becomes a mirror of economic power in German-speaking countries. In addition to essays by various experts from business, architecture and industry, 25 outstanding production sites in Germany, Switzerland and Austria are shown.