I found Die Herrschaft der Mechanisierung by Sigfried Giedion more or less by accident at a book store in Zurich around 2002. Back then, it was the title that piqued my interest.

So I have had the book for more than 20 years and it is still among those I grab off the book shelf most frequently. Sometimes I use it as a picture book, other times as a reference and it often helps me find ideas. I also keep catching myself as I search for technical explanations or information in it and instead, find something totally different and read in it for hours.

I think that Die Herrschaft der Mechanisierung is an ideal book to use in conjunction with the  Ruhrtriennale.  It links technology, industrialization and art with each other. Initially, you might think it is a textbook, but in reality, it is a story about mechanical arts and the inventors as well as the craftsmen are the heroes of the story.

While I work inside the Jahrhunderthalle and now also at the Mischanlage Zollverein, I continue to engage a lot with the ideas and inventions of the heavy industry world, and I am extremely happy to see the incredible spaces and options this industry has left behind for us to use.

Ulrich Schneider, 30 May 2023