Coming together. - Project for the façade design of the building

The artist

Esther Margraff was born in 1955 in Sankt Vith. She trained as an art teacher in Liège. She has now lived in Eynatten for 46 years and taught at the Royal Athenaeum Eupen (KAE) for many years.

Even in art lessons, her focus was on fostering the imagination - because "imagination is more important than knowledge", as Einstein recognized.
In addition to her work as an art teacher, she has designed and built unusual polyester furniture for many years, which she has exhibited in numerous places.

Later, photography took the place of furniture making: she began to create surreal photomontages with great passion, for which she also liked to use 3D programs. However, these programs are often expensive and complex - which is why artificial intelligence is a welcome alternative.

The real challenge in working with AI is to free it from kitsch and develop your own unmistakable style that you can identify with. Some artists prove that this is possible - they are a great motivation for Esther Margraff to use AI for herself. Margraff now sees AI as a creative assistant.

The work

Esther Margraff writes:

When looking for a motif that visualizes the idea of "coming together", the thought of a "transport network" came to my mind relatively spontaneously, simply because the building used to be a bus depot.
A transport network like this, whether road or rail, facilitates many encounters and connects our living environments, whether it's for work or pleasure.

Every intersection can be a meeting point, a destination to meet each other. Living together without a transport network is practically unimaginable and coming together grows where connections are created and maintained, where there is movement.
To implement my theme, I first used AI to create an image of Aachen's transport network. However, I discarded this first result because the proportions didn't fit at all and designed an imaginary transportation network instead.

I developed the motif further with different prompts and styles - inspired by Celtic knots, among other things. At the same time, I incorporated my own visual "style code" each time.

Since my image AI (Midjourney) couldn't create such a high format, I ended up "interweaving" two images in Corel Photopaint and combining them into one whole. So I also had to create connections when designing.

From the outset, it was important to me that the motif should extend across all four windows - to further emphasize the idea of coming together.

The project

Coming together.

This was the motto of the 100th anniversary since the depot was built in Talstraße, which was celebrated on 14.09.2025.
The depot has been a building for coming together from the very beginning. Even today, art, culture, youth work, club work and many initiatives and ideas, supported by committed people, come together here.

The theme can be interpreted in many ways - as approach, movement, contact, overlapping or community. One interpretation, that of Esther Margraff, can currently be seen on the window front of the building.

In preparation for the anniversary, Atelierhaus Aachen e.V. and the City of Aachen jointly called for motifs to be submitted. This motif was jointly selected by a jury and visitors to the anniversary.