Photo series by Simone De Iacobis, spring-summer 2022
CC BYNC-SA 4.0

The project was carried out as part of the City of Warsaw’s art scholarship.

Photo series by Simone De Iacobis, spring-summer 2022
CC BYNC-SA 4.0

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.

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.

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

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.

 

 

The project was carried out as part of the City of Warsaw’s art scholarship.