Empty shop windows are dreary - but they don't have to be! As part of the "Citygold" project, Aachen-based artist Sandra Ganser has recently staged an artistic installation in a shop window in Elisabethstraße right next to the indoor swimming pool. She has dyed almost 400 dried seed capsules of the lantern flower individually and hung them up on strings.

With the "Citygold" campaign, Aachen's city management repeatedly transforms empty shop windows into exhibition spaces. The aim is to make good use of the time between vacancy and a new rental. This gives regional artists and designers as well as projects from science and voluntary work the opportunity to present themselves and their work in the city center.

For Sandra Ganser, this installation represents a combination of nature poetry and the symbolism of water. The shape of the seed capsules is reminiscent of drops of water raining from the ceiling. The spatial proximity to the indoor swimming pool was an inspiration, as was the theme of Aachen as a city of thermal springs. Commenting on the project, the artist says: "It's fun to be able to enrich the cityscape with my art. A young mother explained that she enjoyed the meditative effect of the installation. Designing a shop window with art may be a minor action in the overall urban fabric. But the effect on the immediate surroundings should not be underestimated."

Despite the simplicity of the concept, there is one key challenge: above all, more owners need to make their shop windows available, reports City Manager Kai Hennes. He says: "The shop window campaign is one of many building blocks that we use to revitalize vacancies. It is a first and good way of putting direct value on these spaces for an interim period. We have many committed people who have contacted us to stage empty shop windows. However, we need more owners to make their spaces available to us on a one-off basis. It's no effort for the owners as we take care of everything else. Then we can also implement this on a large scale."

The "Citygold" campaign is part of a comprehensive process initiated by Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen to shape Aachen's city center through the active participation of the urban community. Owners who would like to make their shop windows available as part of this process and interested parties who would like to design a shop window can contact the City of Aachen's City Management.

www.aachen.de/citygold