Folke Köbberling
living elements, façade elements made of raw wool, wood, and wire, 2023

Folke Köbberling in in cooperation with Alexa Kreissl
HEXAGON, curtain made of woven drinks cartons, 2023

For the new nGbK location near Alexanderplatz, artist Folke Köbberling has developed a two-part work based on a proposal submitted to an invitation-only competition. It consists of an advertising banner attached to the outer façade and a curtain hung inside.

The curtain woven out of strips of silver cardboard (HEXAGON, 2023) hangs in the windows on the first floor. Made in collaboration with artist Alexa Kreissl and the Institut für Architekturbezogene Kunst in Braunschweig, it uses a modular weaving technique based on closed loops to reuse discarded drinks cartons in a new structure.

On four surfaces designed to hold signage on the outer façade above these first-floor windows, Köbberling has installed four four-part geometrical objects made of raw wool layered in wooden frames (living elements, 2023). Their form recalls the nGbK’s logo, but also mirrors other logos and lettering on the façade.

Both elements reuse materials for which limited sustainable recycling options have been found to date: raw wool and empty drinks cartons. They contrast with the “hard” materials of the surroundings and refer to elements of East German modernist design. At the same time, they draw attention to practices of using and repurposing buildings in times of climate change and ecological crisis, as the wool-filled façade objects can also be used by birds as places to nest.

Folke Köbberling teaches at the Institut für Architekturbezogene Kunst at Braunschweig Technical University. In her often collaborative artworks, she addresses themes including extensive/wasteful use of resources, the loss of biodiversity as a result of soil surface sealing, and carbon-dioxide pollution in urban spaces.

Alexa Kreissl is an artist currently writing a PhD on metal ring meshes at the Institut für Architekturbezogene Kunst.