As of early March 2022, employees and guests at Germany’s National Metrology Institute (PTB) in Berlin-Charlottenburg can admire a piece by Berlin artist Heidi Sill in the Walther Meißner building. Sill’s concept was the winning entry in the 2018 Art in Architecture competition, organised by the German Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).
molitor was responsible for installing the artwork, which consists of 14 spheres of coloured glass that hang in the stairwell of the Walther Meißner Building.
The spheres are all the same size and are suspended from the ceiling to form a spiral that stretches from the third floor to the ground floor.

The colour scheme is based on the temperature scale, which forms an essential part of the PTB’s work: it ranges from cold blue on the ground floor – low-temperature research is carried out on the basement level below – to fiery red at the top.
The spheres were handmade at Germany’s oldest glass factory and are attached to sturdy steel cables.
molitor’s Media, Light & Exhibits Department was responsible for the complex, professional installation of the delicate glass spheres, each of which weigh around five kilos.

Fotos: ©Michael Schultze