Facade project, Berlin

Described as a 'self-organizing process', autoR (2010) will enable visitors to apply colourful, artist-designed stickers at random to the edifice's now blank white facade, a 'canvas' of PVC cladding, prepared as the project's first phase. With the help of aerial platforms during the first week, people will even be able to reach up to a height of eleven metres on the walls. Nicolai's stickers, a regular geometric form that comes in seven different colours, have the potential to be arranged in myriad ways, all freely determined and shaped by participating individuals.

For as long as the project's duration – from 8 June until 31 August 2010 – the stickers will continue to be applied. As a result, from day to day throughout the summer the centre's appearance is predicted to undergo constant flux, but with unpredictable results. With the stickers congealing in a chaotic array of forms, clusters and patterns, the imaginative efforts of numerous individuals will directly influence the box-like structure's envelope.

The project's name comes from the Greek root auto, meaning 'by itself', in combination with the letter 'R' to denote the 'author', or individual creator. This means that 'in the context of the project, the visitor takes on the role of the author, combining personal decisions with the tools provided by the artist to drive forward this interactive, creative design process.'