Light artist Thorsten Pfister transformed the former Phoenix-West blast furnace into a colourful work of art last Saturday, painting swathes of the old building in Dortmund, Germany, in bright lights.

The work is part of his project lichtkunst.ruhr, in which he illuminates different historical industrial buildings in the Ruhr area in a variety of colours.

The different colours symbolise the diverse population of the Ruhr area, the artist said on his website.

He hopes that through his light art, he can turn what used to shape the industrial Ruhr area as grey and dirty into something new and positive in the minds of the public.