The Stahlhausen Enterprises Theaterkollektiv rehearses Hanns Eisler in Bochum's Jahrhunderhall Century Hall

The Stahlhausen Enterprises Theaterkollektiv rehearses Hanns Eisler in Bochum's Jahrhunderhall (Century Hall).Deeply resonantMozart never sank this deep. The New Westphalia Philharmonic plays the Haffner Serenade in the kilometre-long Romberg shaft in Werne. The musicians, and their conductor, Johannes Wildner, donned mining clothes and hard hats for the occasion. The concert, held on 20 September 1998, closed the final chapter on the Romberg shaft. A week later it was filled in.From scrap heap to cultural showpieceEver since the Duisburg-Meidrich steel works, founded in 1902, were closed down, it had been nothing but a monstrous scrap heap.

Today, however, it is once again in business as an adventure park and cultural centre. Celebrations take place amid steel pipes and compressors, conferences are held and music is made. At weekends, the light artist Jonathan Park sets the blast furnace backdrop ablaze with technicoloured lighting as a symbol of a new era for the Ruhrpott.No longer a white elephantBack in the days when all the chimneys puffed smoke, many areas of this region had been off-limits to inhabitants. Factory premises, danger zones and deserted dump rooms were all out of bounds, but that has all changed.

Now audiences flock to the Ruhr Classical Music Festival held here. The Maximillian colliery in Hamm has been transformed into a glass elephant by artists. Images of the futureThe past may have been transformed, but it has not been forgotten. Pictured middle right is a multimedia project called Ruhrwerk, or "Ruhr works", that marries an awareness of the old heavy industries of this century with a vision of employment in the future. Images of technological progress are projected onto steel plates beyond wet coal which lies scattered across the stage in front.Flying high in a gasometerUp until 1988, Oberhausen's gasometer was still being used to store gas fuel. It is the largest building in the area and it was probably most effected by the closures in the region.

This 117 metre-high hollow structure was due to be demolished, but according to artists it has now found its true raison d'etre, as an exhibition centre and adventure park. A glass elevator takes visitors to the very top for a breath-taking view into the abyss, and the outside walls are used by artists for lighting installations. Duisburg's gasometer has also found a new fate, this time as a practice pool for sports divers.Underground clubbing at KruppsIt has never been easy to get into the Krupps, neither in its steel manufacturing days nor today. Would-be members of the Mudia Art club are required to make a written application and have a one in 12 chance of being accepted.

Once inside, visitors can admire bears, praying monks, naked men and women in cages, all to the sound of hip-hop, dance and classical music. Mudia Art does not merely have bizarre spectacles on offer, but also Andre Heller's magical, fairytale-like installation Meteorit, a multimedia adventure room Words by Jorg-Uwe Albig/`Geo' magazine. For those of us not sickened to the stomach by endless fashion twittering over what, and what not, to wear to "that party", here's a simple but effective hot tip: it's safe to say, ladies, that we could all do a lot worse than opt for a little something courtesy of Sonia Rykiel. It's not too obvious a label - rather, to this particular fashion editor's mind, it is somewhat under-rated - but it is reassuringly expensive nonetheless. Neither is it so sparkly or saucy that those wearing it are likely to resemble nothing more than the proverbial Christmas tree come midnight on 1 January 2000. Instead, any woman wise enough to invest in what has now become one of the great classic French brands can rest assured that she will a) be unlikely to run into anyone wearing the same thing (quelle horreur!) and b) have just that sexy je ne sais quoi, that Gallic sense of drama that ensures she wipes the floor - sartorially speaking at least - with anyone else in the vicinity.Rykiel's autumn/winter collections are always her strongest - she remains queen of the knits - the super-skinny, body-conscious look that has been her signature since she started out in the late Sixties is always good to see.