Topography (I)

Topography (I) consists of a series of stone-like blocks cast from melted glass schnapps bottles collected in the streets of Berlin.

Discarded after consumption and largely unnoticed in public space, these small bottles often remain where they fall. Through a process of melting and recasting, the bottles are transformed into construction elements, shifting from urban residue to a material embedded within the fabric of the city.

The work draws inspiration from the small foundation stones used around many Berlin buildings to accommodate the subtle movements produced by the city’s high groundwater levels. Although largely invisible, these technical elements allow architecture to adapt continuously to forces acting beneath the surface.

By transforming discarded bottles into a new tectonic material, Topography (I) reflects on the often imperceptible processes that shape urban life. Just as buildings slowly shift, neighbourhoods change through countless small actions, from everyday habits and nightlife to larger economic forces that continuously redefine the city. The work proposes these overlooked objects as traces of collective memory and as part of an evolving urban archaeology.