Unnoticed, aquatic greenery has disappeared from architecture, but we have many sites in Warsaw where it could return. Aquatic greenery was an important component of the city, it kept the water clear thanks to its ability to purify it, it provided healthy habitats, it co-created a pleasant microclimate in hot weather. In the 1980s and 1990s, Warsaw lost its aquatic plants, and with them its knowledge of them. Some of the reservoirs were treated as a civil defence resource, they were sterilised by the use of chemicals, others were neglected or land filled. Climate challenges, such as diagnosed climatic drought and the need for water retention, call for the rapid dissemination of knowledge about aquatic plants and how they can be restored.

1935 pond in the garden of the Museum of the Earth, the former villa owned by the architect Bohdan Pniewski in Aleja Na Skarpie, Warsaw. Needs cleaning, planting with aquatic plants and filling with lake water.

1935 pond in the garden of the Museum of the Earth, the former villa owned by the architect Bohdan Pniewski in Aleja Na Skarpie, Warsaw. Needs cleaning, planting with aquatic plants and filling with lake water.

1935 pond in the garden of the Museum of the Earth, the former villa owned by the architect Bohdan Pniewski in Aleja Na Skarpie, Warsaw. Needs cleaning, planting with aquatic plants and filling with lake water.

Garden around the apartment building at 1 Kręta Street in Warsaw, 1937-39 designed by Alina Scholtz. The two swimming pools are well-preserved, in need of excavation, renovation and replanting as ponds.

Garden around the apartment building at 1 Kręta Street in Warsaw, 1937-39 designed by Alina Scholtz. The two swimming pools are well-preserved, in need of excavation, renovation and replanting as ponds.

Garden around the apartment building at 1 Kręta Street in Warsaw, 1937-39 designed by Alina Scholtz. The two swimming pools are well-preserved, in need of excavation, renovation and replanting as ponds.

A pond in the Housing Cooperative "Oświata" estate on Długa Street in Warsaw dating to 1965. It needs cleaning, replanting with aquatic plants and filling with lake water. Attention is drawn to the details placed by residents to help animals use the water.

A pond in the Housing Cooperative "Oświata" estate on Długa Street in Warsaw dating to 1965. It needs cleaning, replanting with aquatic plants and filling with lake water. Attention is drawn to the details placed by residents to help animals use the water.

A pond in the Housing Cooperative "Oświata" estate on Długa Street in Warsaw dating to 1965. It needs cleaning, replanting with aquatic plants and filling with lake water. Attention is drawn to the details placed by residents to help animals use the water.

An excerpt from a photograph by Zbyszek Siemaszko, from the cover of Stolica magazine dated 29.09.68. The publication " Teachers' building and housing cooperative 1928-1978" describes that the pond was created "by the hands of a few activists-Mr Wilczek and Mr Dabrowski-and residents."

Swimming pool in Mieczyslaw Fogg Square. Needs renovation and replanting. Neighbourhood residents favour a natural pond, do not want a fountain.

Swimming pool in Mieczyslaw Fogg Square. Needs renovation and replanting. Neighbourhood residents favour a natural pond, do not want a fountain.

Swimming pool in Mieczyslaw Fogg Square. Needs renovation and replanting. Neighbourhood residents favour a natural pond, do not want a fountain.

The series illustrates where in Warsaw healthy ponds can be recreated in their historic settings. Research into the history of Warsaw’s greenery has uncovered forgotten small architecture dedicated to hydrophytes. Field trips have confirmed that we still have remnants of it. We can follow old solutions, e.g. shelves and soil containers that allow plants to take root, the depth and thickness of the cross-section of the frame edges, elements that allow amphibians to enter/exit, these are visual clues on how to shape new ponds.

The pool in the garden of the Radium Institute, inaugurated by Maria Skłodowska-Curie in 1925 on Wawelska Street in Warsaw. The pond needs to be emptied, repaired, the stylised with features of the small architecture and replanted with aquatic plants.

The pool in the garden of the Radium Institute, inaugurated by Maria Skłodowska-Curie in 1925 on Wawelska Street in Warsaw. The pond needs to be emptied, repaired, the stylised with features of the small architecture and replanted with aquatic plants.

The pool in the garden of the Radium Institute, inaugurated by Maria Skłodowska-Curie in 1925 on Wawelska Street in Warsaw. The pond needs to be emptied, repaired, the stylised with features of the small architecture and replanted with aquatic plants.

The pool in the garden of the Radium Institute. Arkady magazine 1935 no. 3, p. 6.

The cobbled basin of a community pond from the mid-1970s on the Szwoleżerów estate in Warsaw, by Halina Skibniewska and her team, landscape architecture by Alina Scholtz. It is in need of restoration, mainly waterproofing and planting.

The cobbled basin of a community pond from the mid-1970s on the Szwoleżerów estate in Warsaw, by Halina Skibniewska and her team, landscape architecture by Alina Scholtz. It is in need of restoration, mainly waterproofing and planting.

The cobbled basin of a community pond from the mid-1970s on the Szwoleżerów estate in Warsaw, by Halina Skibniewska and her team, landscape architecture by Alina Scholtz. It is in need of restoration, mainly waterproofing and planting.

1930s pond in the Zoological Garden during seasonal maintenance work. A so-called mud shelf is visible - it can be filled with soil and planted with water purifying plants.

1930s pond in the Zoological Garden during seasonal maintenance work. A so-called mud shelf is visible - it can be filled with soil and planted with water purifying plants.

1930s pond in the Zoological Garden during seasonal maintenance work. A so-called mud shelf is visible - it can be filled with soil and planted with water purifying plants.

A particular group includes didactic pits and pools for aquatic and mud plants, through which you can learn the basics of hydrobotany.

The setting of an active spring in Casimir Park, created before 1908, probably as an aquatic plant quarter in University of Warsaw first botanical garden. Water testing, renovation of the neglected architecture and replanting with aquatic plants is needed.

The setting of an active spring in Casimir Park, created before 1908, probably as an aquatic plant quarter in University of Warsaw first botanical garden. Water testing, renovation of the neglected architecture and replanting with aquatic plants is needed.

The setting of an active spring in Casimir Park, created before 1908, probably as an aquatic plant quarter in University of Warsaw first botanical garden. Water testing, renovation of the neglected architecture and replanting with aquatic plants is needed.

Hydrobotanical teaching apparatus from 1963 in the courtyard of the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, 55 Koszykowa Street, Warsaw. The pond requires minor repairs and replanting.

Hydrobotanical teaching apparatus from 1963 in the courtyard of the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, 55 Koszykowa Street, Warsaw. The pond requires minor repairs and replanting.

Hydrobotanical teaching apparatus from 1963 in the courtyard of the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, 55 Koszykowa Street, Warsaw. The pond requires minor repairs and replanting.

Didactic Gardens, photo by S. Czajkowski, before 1968, WAPW archives. We would like to thank dr inż. arch. Kinga Zinowiec-Cieplik.

Didactic Gardens, photo by S. Czajkowski, before 1968, WAPW archives. We would like to thank dr inż. arch. Kinga Zinowiec-Cieplik.

Didactic Gardens, photo by S. Czajkowski, before 1968, WAPW archives. We would like to thank dr inż. arch. Kinga Zinowiec-Cieplik.

A water reservoir in the historic didactic park of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Rakowiecka Street. Needs renovation and replanting.

A water reservoir in the historic didactic park of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Rakowiecka Street. Needs renovation and replanting.

A water reservoir in the historic didactic park of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Rakowiecka Street. Needs renovation and replanting.

Waffle gardens from the 1930s in the Botanical Garden of the University of Warsaw in Aleje Ujazdowskie, antique basins for the Warsaw aquatic plant collection. Very good condition.

Waffle gardens from the 1930s in the Botanical Garden of the University of Warsaw in Aleje Ujazdowskie, antique basins for the Warsaw aquatic plant collection. Very good condition.

Waffle gardens from the 1930s in the Botanical Garden of the University of Warsaw in Aleje Ujazdowskie, antique basins for the Warsaw aquatic plant collection. Very good condition.

A didactic pond on the grounds of Stefan Batory Secondary School No. 2, refurbished in 2019-20. Allows for hydrobotany lessons and achieving gardening accomplishments.

A didactic pond on the grounds of Stefan Batory Secondary School No. 2, refurbished in 2019-20. Allows for hydrobotany lessons and achieving gardening accomplishments.

A didactic pond on the grounds of Stefan Batory Secondary School No. 2, refurbished in 2019-20. Allows for hydrobotany lessons and achieving gardening accomplishments.

A prefabricated aquatic plant pot, a water bed, I have been maintaining since 2018 to bring aquatic plants closer to the audience of the Zachęta National Gallery of Art.

A prefabricated aquatic plant pot, a water bed, I have been maintaining since 2018 to bring aquatic plants closer to the audience of the Zachęta National Gallery of Art.

A prefabricated aquatic plant pot, a water bed, I have been maintaining since 2018 to bring aquatic plants closer to the audience of the Zachęta National Gallery of Art.

Aquatic plant pot. Witold Szolginia, Aesthetics of the City, Arkady, Warsaw 1981; illustration: Archive of the Institute of Urban Planning and Architecture [background modified].

Zemlot Family Allotment Garden. Allotment owners pass on hydrobotanical insights by learning on ponds of the smallest sizes, carried out in barrels, bathtubs and small containers.

Zemlot Family Allotment Garden. Allotment owners pass on hydrobotanical insights by learning on ponds of the smallest sizes, carried out in barrels, bathtubs and small containers.

Zemlot Family Allotment Garden. Allotment owners pass on hydrobotanical insights by learning on ponds of the smallest sizes, carried out in barrels, bathtubs and small containers.

Old postcards illustrate ponds with floating leaves, with plants rooting in the substrate. The coverings created underwater patches of shade for aquatic creatures, prevented the water from overheating, mosquitoes from multiplying, algae from growing. Today, the same reservoirs are devoid of silt; plants have no way to take root.

Pond in the Saxon Garden, paved in 1878 in which lilies grew in sunken containers. It needs water testing and restoration of the soil containers to give the plants somewhere to take root.

Pond in the Saxon Garden, paved in 1878 in which lilies grew in sunken containers. It needs water testing and restoration of the soil containers to give the plants somewhere to take root.

Pond in the Saxon Garden, paved in 1878 in which lilies grew in sunken containers. It needs water testing and restoration of the soil containers to give the plants somewhere to take root.

Fragment of a postcard from the Stefan Kamiński publishing house in Kraków, circa 1939.

A photograph reproduced in a 1940s textbook.

Pond on the Rakowiec housing estate, a former clay pit around which the functionalist cooperative blocks were built in the 1930s. The pond is in good health, has a well-maintained architectural setting, requires lily replanting in underwater containers.

Pond on the Rakowiec housing estate, a former clay pit around which the functionalist cooperative blocks were built in the 1930s. The pond is in good health, has a well-maintained architectural setting, requires lily replanting in underwater containers.

Pond on the Rakowiec housing estate, a former clay pit around which the functionalist cooperative blocks were built in the 1930s. The pond is in good health, has a well-maintained architectural setting, requires lily replanting in underwater containers.

Vistula River oxbow in Kępa Potocka Park, established in the 1960s. Requires water testing and lily replanting in underwater containers.

Vistula River oxbow in Kępa Potocka Park, established in the 1960s. Requires water testing and lily replanting in underwater containers.

Vistula River oxbow in Kępa Potocka Park, established in the 1960s. Requires water testing and lily replanting in underwater containers.

Overgrown dock in the Port of Prague with water lilies. To be transformed into a marina and the boulevards of a luxury residential area.

Overgrown dock in the Port of Prague with water lilies. To be transformed into a marina and the boulevards of a luxury residential area.

Overgrown dock in the Port of Prague with water lilies. To be transformed into a marina and the boulevards of a luxury residential area.

The canals on Kamionkowskie Błonia Elekcyjne, with their lush aquatic and swamp greenery, require seasonal gardening.

The canals on Kamionkowskie Błonia Elekcyjne, with their lush aquatic and swamp greenery, require seasonal gardening.

The canals on Kamionkowskie Błonia Elekcyjne, with their lush aquatic and swamp greenery, require seasonal gardening.

Kamionkowskie Lake, one of the healthiest habitats for rushes, reeds and aquatic plants in Warsaw. It is worth taking some water from here when setting up a pond in order to bring a microcosm of creatures - guarantees of gardening success.

Kamionkowskie Lake, one of the healthiest habitats for rushes, reeds and aquatic plants in Warsaw. It is worth taking some water from here when setting up a pond in order to bring a microcosm of creatures - guarantees of gardening success.

Kamionkowskie Lake, one of the healthiest habitats for rushes, reeds and aquatic plants in Warsaw. It is worth taking some water from here when setting up a pond in order to bring a microcosm of creatures - guarantees of gardening success.