​

Inhabitants donate their most sentimental clothing item in exchange for a concrete paving stone that is cast directly from the textile's surface and is later installed within the sidewalk of their neighborhood.

​

The term "urban fabric" is typically used in city planning and architectural discourse to describe the physical aspect of urbanism, emphasizing streetscapes for example, but excluding the sociocultural, economic, and political aspects of a built environment. Here, the term is approached instead by using inhabitants' clothing as the starting point for a conversation about memory and place through an interview, a paving stone, and an urban intervention.

​

The newly cast paving stones take on the material qualities of the shirt, forming a thin coat of cotton microfibers embedded within the slightly soft concrete surface.

 

Following a recorded interview, the paving stone is fixed within the sidewalk in a place of significance to them where an already loose paving stone resides. The project attempts to inject an intimate layer of meaning within the urban fabric of their neighborhood through transposing the sentimental value of clothing onto a physical location in public space. 

​

Funded by Neustart Kultur, Stiftung Kunstfonds.

​

With the participation of Nyla Sayman, Frank Wang, and Periklis Lazarou.

​

Interwoven Group Exhibition

Neurotitan Gallery

Curated by Neza Peterle

Berlin, Germany

July 2021