Urban design competition entry – From Grey to Great, Sofia Mel, Sofia, Bulgaria – 2024
Nine industrial silos stand grey and monolithic in the heart of Sofia – cylindrical towers of concrete that have defined the skyline of the surrounding neighbourhood for decades. The From Grey to Great open call by Sofia Mel invited designers and artists to transform these structures into a landmark work of urban public art, giving colour, meaning and new life to an overlooked industrial landscape.
The Heart of Wheat responds to the building’s history and function – a flour mill at the centre of the city’s food supply chain. The concept draws on the symbolic language of wheat: the ear of grain as both biological form and cultural icon, representing nourishment, harvest and the essential ingredients of daily life. Each silo becomes a vertical canvas, its cylindrical form echoing the natural geometry of the grain stalk.
The nine silos are treated as a single unified composition while retaining individual identity. Seen from the street, each panel tells its own story – sun, nature, love, city, night, growth, flight, harvest, earth. Seen from abov,e they form a complete landscape – a field of colour and life emerging from industrial grey. The colour palette moves through warm yellows, golds, ambers and natural greens, punctuated by moments of deep blue, rich red and night black.
Project Details
| Title | The Heart of Wheat |
| Year | 2024 |
| Medium | Digital illustration and design |
| Format | Nine vertical panels – large scale urban installation |
| Location | Sofia Mel flour mill, 4 Pavlina Unifrieva Street, Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Context | From Grey to Great – urban design open call |
| Organiser | Sofia Mel |
| Status | Competition entry – digital submission |
Image credits
B&W aerial photograph of Sofia Mel silos courtesy of Sofia Mel and the Grey to Great open call organisers.
All design work – The Heart of Wheat – copyright Hristo Yordanov, 2024. All rights reserved.