Tomislav Topic: Fluxa Stratis
Factsheet
Format: Art in Architecture/Mural
Ort: 12439 Berlin, Kupferkamp/Helga-Hahnemann-Straße, development BUWOG WOHNWERK
Architecture: &MICA Architekten (BUWOG WEYDENHOF)
Creation: 2024
Artist: Tomislav Topic (*1985 in Hannover, lives and works in Berlin, DE), www.tomislav-topic.com
Info/Scope: Tomislav Topic designed 525 square metres of wall surface with his characteristic colour gradients on the 195-metre-long embankment wall that secures BUWOG WOHNWERK to the Spree. The artist documented the process of creation from the opposite bank of the Spree in a time-lapse video.
Dimensions: The development on the six-hectare site encompasses the construction of 900 new rental apartments and condominiums in total. In the first construction phase (BUWOG WEYDENHOF/&MICA Architekten), the “Strohhalm” social centre featuring temporary accommodation, washrooms, clothing stores, food distribution and psychosocial services for homeless people was built alongside four mill-like urban villas and an apartment building (135 apartments in total), which offer thrilling views of the Spree. In terms of design, the architects focus on the natural material wood, whose pre-weathered patina continually reveals new facets depending on the time of day and incidence of light.
Tomislav Topic: Fluxa Stratis
In Berlin‘s Treptow-Köpenick district, the embankment wall has been reflecting vivid colours across the Spree since summer of 2024. While the BUWOG WOHNWERK development behind it is still partly under construction (approximately 900 rental apartments and condominiums will be built in several stages by 2027), the artist is creating awareness for the new residential development. Known for his colourful in situ installations, façade designs and abstract murals that border on urban art in their dynamism, and in the tradition of mid-century abstract painting, Tomislav Topic focuses on colour and form as the primary content of his work. Fluxa Stratis (Latin for layers of flow) features silhouette-like overlaps and interlaced colour surfaces, whose starting point is in the complementary contrast of blue and the orange in BUWOG’s logo. The mural blends harmoniously into the architecture, quotes the changing moods of light and weather in its design and, as a changing reflection in the water, is becoming a defining landmark in the public space. For 11 days, the artist worked on the wall from a raft – pulled by a barge loaded with 250 litres of paint, which functioned as a floating studio. To complement the work, the artist produced a time-lapse video from his studio in the former Schöneweide industrial site on the opposite bank of the Spree, documenting the process of creating the immense mural.
