Urban II: Artistic signs in the Kaskel neighbourhood, Berlin, 2005
Thoroughfare in Kaskel St.

Reinforced plastic, computer-controlled neon lights

In co-operation with Margund Smolka

Photographs: Jens Komossa

A slightly curved, organic-looking, illuminated object is hung above the footpath beneath a railway bridge. The shape of the object is based on the outline of the neighbourhood in which it hangs.

The object is permanently illuminated by a soft, reddish-coloured light source. At long, regular intervals, the light becomes more intense at the centre of the object or on its outer perimeter. Increases and decreases in the intensity of light take place very slowly. The rhythm is similar to that of very slow breathing.

The Kaskel neighbourhood is encircled by a suburban railway and resembles a cell or organ within a membrane. The railway line forms the neighbourhood's boundary and gives it its characteristic form.
Like pores or arteries, the underpass beneath each railway bridge is the neighbourhood's link to the surrounding suburbs – and is its means of breathing, pulsating and communicating.