The competition entry titled »Mocca Eck«, by artist Bernd Trasberger, is a proposal for an installation integrated into the main stair of the forthcoming Humboldt Forum in Berlin. United Architektur collaborated with the artist to develop and present the technical and aesthetic considerations relating to the location of the object in space.

The competition entry proposes to restore a heavily damaged coffee cup attached to the façade of the iconic Haus der Statistik in Alexanderplatz and hang it as a sculpture over the main stair in the new Humboldt Forum. The trails of rising steam that formerly pointed the way to Café Mocca Eck, an important place in the public life of former East Berlin, are rearranged to float above the stair.

On one hand, the proposal discusses the role that coffee plays as part of a complex relationship between global cultures and everyday life in Germany. On the other hand, the work raises important questions concerning the preservation of important relics of art and architecture from East German modernism. In the course of the project, a copy of the original coffee cup will be created according to the existing artifact. This new wall object will take the place of the original during the future renovation of Haus der Statistik, thereby retaining its presence in the urban realm.
The conceptual duplication of the coffee cup thus establishes a dialogue with the Humboldt Forum as a new type of museum dedicated to process and research. It frames the building as a cosmopolitan place eager to address new and unusual possibilities of coexistence between cultures and nations while raising fundamental questions about art and nature.

Architects: Jens Brinkmann
Collaborators: Gonca Yilmaz, Dana Faridani-Rad