Altes Industrie-Denkmal ist das verrückte Zuhause von Ania & Volker | ARD Room Tour

A concrete mixer in the middle of the room. In one cement silo the kitchen, in the other the bedroom. For Ania Dziezewska and Volker Scheurer, this is normality. The artist couple lives in an old gravel plant in Weil am Rhein. The former ready-mix concrete mixing plant is an industrial monument in the city and is located in the "Dreiländergarten" near the border with France and Switzerland. In the 1920s, it was the first plant of its kind in the region. Until 1996, concrete was produced here from gravel in two large agitators and transported away by trucks that could drive directly under the stilted structure. The unusual industrial building has been a listed building since 1999. Two years later, Volker took over the gravel plant. The industrial building standing on steel stilts inspired him. In 2001, he began to use the industrial monument as a studio. The building was already struggling with rust at that time. Volker gradually converted it and made it usable as an art and living space. He has integrated some of the old machinery, conveyor systems and steel structures into the rooms and his art, thus also protecting them in the long term. It is important to him that the history of the building can be felt. He planned and built most of it himself. "We live and love art," he tells us, and that is evident everywhere. Living and art blur. Outside, Volker's meter-high sculptures stand in an outdoor area of about 2,000 square meters. On the second floor is the gallery with Ania's paintings. But the gallery is also the artist couple's living room. On the second floor, Volker has converted the four silo towers into living spaces. This has created around 100 square meters of living space for the two of them - room for a small kitchen, a bathroom and several rooms. For themselves, but also for their children or their "Artist in Residence" program, a cooperation with various art academies abroad. The two have furnished their private living area in a rather shrill and colorful way, with lots of kitsch and whimsical odds and ends from Japan. They have both come to know and love Japan through many trips and their own exhibitions. This is reflected not only in the countless crazy souvenirs, but also in the rest of the apartment furnishings. So there is also a Japanese toilet in the bathroom, which among other things also offers the comfort of a butt shower. In the "tatami" room, specially laid out with Japanese rice straw mats, the two have built themselves a traditional Japanese dining table with "foot heating". Whether drinking tea or simply relaxing, this room is dedicated entirely to their passion for Japan. Lots of light shines through the glass roof, revealing the observation deck. On the roof is the "roof-top garden." Tomatoes, hot peppers, herbs Ania planted here during Corona. There is also a Jacuzzi and a bed on the roof garden. "Actually, we sleep on the open-air bed three months out of the year." But this summer was too rainy. The view can be enjoyed even so. "Living is not something static, it is changeable," the two think. The gravel plant is a perpetual project: a new floor here, a new wall there. Whenever there is money, it is invested in the building. "It's like a dream and a nightmare at the same time" laughs Volker - the work never ends. A film by Julius Schmitt (editor), Cécilia Marchat (sound) and Enno Endlicher (camera). Production: EIKON Media GmbH, on behalf of SWR. 00:00 Gravel plant 00:29 Industrial monument 02:20 Private area 02:53 Studio 04:11 Silos 06:40 "Tatami" room 08:01 Bathroom 08:46 Garden 09:46 Rooftop