BETONIUM explores the relationship between contemporary identity and architectural heritage in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on the panel-built residential blocks as instruments of urban control and ideological power. Through "human sculptures" that I create, the project highlights the dynamic interplay between architecture and its inhabitants. Just as bodies are structured and moved, the urban planning ideologies of the state subtly shape the lives of those who reside within its cities, embedding collective dreams and aspirations into concrete. Drawing on historical sculptures from the era of panel block construction, I interrogate the concept of ‘stone idols,’ deconstructing the political narratives of control and idealisation. I question how these ideals were propagated in both the Eastern bloc, through its overt propaganda, and the Western world, with its modernist drive. BETONIUM spans 11 countries across the former Iron Curtain, including Poland, Slovakia, Georgia, Estonia, Serbia, and Belarus, where I integrate printed on curtains block houses from one country in another, seeking to discern whether there is the common experience of residing in prefabricated housing. For example, I create visual compositions where a Tbilisi (Georgia) panel house appears in Tychy (Poland) or a Tallinn (Estonia) structure in Minsk (Belarus), blending environments to form a universal cityscape of panels. These transpositions question the commonalities and divergences in identity shaped by these monumental spaces. With the help of AI I create a symbolic "imaginary archive" blending modernist aesthetics with ideological motifs. The emerged facades present a collage of industrial elements, machinery, and human figures, reflecting the utopian ambitions of modernist design and the overarching narratives of ideology. A the same time in collages made by me from my photos I combine the various images that represent both the past and the present, and the contrasts and tensions between them, and reflect the complexity of the contemporary identity of the inhabitants of the former Eastern Bloc. By visiting individuals who live in the panel-block apartments across different countries, I capture them in their everyday surroundings, reflecting the authenticity and simplicity of life in these spaces. The whole BETONIUM exploration is rooted in my personal experience of growing up in a former Soviet republic, providing an insider’s perspective on the enduring legacy of these monumental spaces.