Urban green guerrilla gardening today is not only about wild plantings in place of uprooted paving slabs, but also about firing up the imaginations of residents with imaginative ideas.
This is the model of action adopted by designers from the Wroclaw-based Mossmoss studio, as part of which they also run flower shops and the Climate Change Center. Designers Edyta Jankowska-Picchiotti and Kasia Biala will talk about what they do, how visualizations change thinking, and whether they are concreting in Wroclaw.
Wiktor Bochenek: Who are you and what do you do? How was the idea of the Mossmoss group born?
Edyta Jankowska-Picchiotti and Kasia Biala (Mossmoss): We are a group of designers. We have our own studio and flower shop in Wroclaw. We conduct educational, informational and promotional activities on the Internet and social media regarding climate change. We also do social projects for greening Wroclaw. We promote activities implemented by EU cities as part of climate change adaptation. We disseminate information about good practices undertaken by various EU cities.
We engage local communities to take actions within the framework of ecological projects. We maintain an informative and educational blog. We promote the idea of the Garden City, as well as blue-green infrastructure and water retention in cities. We have designed a system of mobile rain gardens. We have created workshops on making home rain gardens that can be installed on balconies. We are also spreading plantings of climate-resilient plants, i.e. native species, moneymaking plants and drought-tolerant plants.
Greening of Kazimierza Wielkiego street in Wroclaw
© Mossmoss
Wiktor: You have been posting on your social-media for some time now. How did you come up with the idea of conducting "guerrilla gardening" in this way?
Edyta, Kasia: Starting the adventure with publishing visualizations or loose concepts on our company profile, we wondered whether such actions would meet the interest of residents. The idea itself came from the need to introduce more greenery to the city without incurring huge costs. We wondered, what can we do about it?
Thinking about neglected, degraded areas, the idea of presenting our vision of such areas in the form of ready-made visualizations was born. The response we met with was very positively surprising. We did not expect such a reaction from the residents. The idea was so well received and liked that we started creating projects for developing larger areas of the city, including squares in the center.
With each successive project, we gained a sense that our visualizations can really change the city, that through our work we can show people what can be done to make life in Wroclaw better. In addition, associations and organizations began to approach us with requests for visualizations of specific places. Thanks to our ideas, several areas in the city will be greened.
Greening of Olawska Street in Wroclaw
© Mossmoss
Wiktor: Do residents come to you, asking you to create concepts in often less important and more neglected areas of the city ?
Edyta, Kasia: As we mentioned above, both individual residents and organizations come to us asking for design support. This state of affairs proves that there is a great need to introduce greenery into cities, and many grassroots initiatives are emerging. People need action and really have the desire to change something in their surroundings, but they don't know how they can make it happen.
Often in such cases they turn to us for advice and help in concretizing their ideas. We are happy to share our knowledge and skills, and prepare visualizations for them, which residents can then use to implement community projects.
Greening Ruska Street in Wroclaw
© Mossmoss
Wiktor: What does the problem of concreting in Wroclaw look like from your perspective? How does the capital of Lower Silesia compare to other Polish cities?
Edyta, Kasia: We are aware of the many limitations that city authorities have, and often even the good intentions of officials are not enough to realistically be able to change something. The problem of concreteness probably affects all cities in Poland nowadays, more than once we have shown examples of revitalization of squares, which completely rejected the appearance of blue-green infrastructure in the project.
We have noticed that recently there has been a change in thinking about the development of places intended for the common use of residents. It is apparent that decisions made not long ago are being met with criticism. People are slowly coming to understand that concretes are a fad, that greenery and plantings are needed in the urban landscape. In addition, it's not just an aesthetic aspect, but a practical one. It's hard to spend free time with the family in a square that is heated to the limit, instead of relaxing pleasantly in the shade of trees.
An example of an urban square with green and blue infrastructure
© Mossmoss
Victor: What is the most important thing in designing public greenery that is often not talked about in public ?
Edyta, Kasia: Very often the aspect of functionality is overlooked in favor of a fad. Another important aspect is the lack of coherence with the environment, mainly in terms of architecture. Few designers take the trouble and analyze the site in terms of references to the history of the place. For us, a very important design element is the type of materials and vegetation.
It is important that the species are drought-resistant, do not require additional irrigation. It is necessary to bet on trees. It is very important to listen to the residents, the designs should meet their expectations. Our works meet with interest and favorable response from both Wroclaw citizens and city authorities.
Greening of Ruska Street in Wroclaw
© Mossmoss
Wiktor: Do you see changes in the approach to urban greenery ?
Edyta, Kasia: Currently we can observe the clash of two trends. The first is, of course, the aforementioned concretization, which still dominates, and the second is total opposition. Local communities are opting for green plantings in every form. A very interesting phenomenon is the reaction of residents to concrete solutions, just a few years ago, when Polish cities began to be flooded by the new fashion for concrete, squares no one protested. This "modernity" was liked, and people were eager to live in new settlements with virtually no green infrastructure.
As the years passed and the temperatures changed, especially oppressive in summer, people began to notice the problem of the lack of blue-green infrastructure, not only aesthetically, but functionally. The same situation was exemplified in the areas being revitalized by the city. Fortunately, this trend is beginning to change, and the best example of such a place is Nowy Targ Square in Wroclaw. After a major renovation, it turned out that the project lacked greenery providing shade and solace, and that it created a place that is never frequented by Wroclaw residents. Now the city will implement a resident-friendly concept. We hope that just such revitalizations will be implemented on a larger scale. Our ideas have received favorable feedback from the city, and we hope to work together to green Wrocław.
Mossmoss proposal to green New Market Square in Wroclaw
© Mossmoss
Wiktor: You have been recognized by the New European Bauhaus project. How do you feel about this recognition?
Edyta, Kasia: A project like the New European B auhaus is a European Commission initiative of great importance for the future of Europe. The opportunity to become an ambassador for such an important initiative is a great honor and distinction, but also a confirmation that our work makes sense. With such support we have a chance to reach a huge audience. It is worth adding that the idea of creating our projects is a grassroots initiative, arising from the need for change in our environment.
Greening the Market Square in Wroclaw
© Mossmoss
Wiktor: What are your plans for the future?
Edyta, Kasia: We plan to be an organization that supports companies, institutions, local governments and grassroots initiatives of residents in implementing ideas for implementing good environmental practices. We are losing with the Center for Climate Change, a place unparalleled on the map of Poland, which aims to promote the idea of sustainable development.
Wiktor: Thank you for the interview.
Green bench project
© Mossmoss
