Like the onetime industrial facilities that have become Dia: Beacon, Mass MoCA and the Tate Modern, among other factory conversions, Berlin's Rummelsberg electric plant is characterized by wide expanses of brick, glass and, most importantly, space. Today, the huge power station with its extraordinary, light-filled hall can be rented for events and film production, but its future is not secure. Power and Energy's reutilization plans, which were conceived for a contest sponsored by Vattenfall Europe AG, come from architects, planners and conservationists alike, and are full of creative...

The gigantic Elbe Vockerode power plant, built in the garden realm of Dessau-Worlitz during Germany's tumultuous and tragic 1930s, has now been closed since 1994, but it remains--next to the Magdeburg cathedral--the biggest landmark travelers encounter in the State of Saxony-Anhalt. The power plant was first used as a cultural space in connection with Expo 2000, when more than 120,000 visitors came to exhibits and events there. Since then, interest in the plant's re-use has only increased. The most recent Hans Heinrich Muller Award for up-and-coming architects, urban planners and...