Warsaw II: At (from) the top, an ode to the green!

According to Heller (2013), green is calming, and, according to a survey conducted with Germans, it was found that, after the colour blue, green was the preferred color among the subjects. However, when we think about colours as part of culture and its respective dynamics, it can be inferred that this inquiry may not fit into our current times. After all, unlike non-human beings that carry their colors genetically inscribed, humans have developed skills and techniques, allowing them to depict themselves with different tones and shapes, whether guided by art or by their inspiration (Morin, 2005, p. 87). Furthermore, in addition to rites, myths and religions, we have the forces of trends exposed/imposed by the market in contemporary times, which continually reprograms itself, fueling consumption.

As far as I have noticed, green bodies have not yet become fashionable, and this choice can perhaps be justified if we look at the theory of colors defended by Goethe, which was rejected due to a lack of evidence, as well as his criticisms of Newton. The writer defended the theory of color formation based on sensations and, for him, in opposition to red we have green, considered as “modest and petit-bourgeois” (Heller, 2013, p. 449). This condition of color that he expresses is worthy of reflection, including imagining which contemporary groups would be aligned with and interested in associating themselves with this color. It is also worth thinking about the extensive marketing exploitation of green and the construction of greenwashing. How do these campaigns interfere to nullify green as an ecological representation? Has green already reached the state of an empty signifier when it comes to sustainability?

In the contemporary urban environment context, rankings continue to classify greenery as a reason for celebration in their communities. As for Warsaw, Essential Living (2024) placed it in 9th place as one of the greenest European cities. In the index of enlisted topics, it can be seen that its highlight is the six forests it presents. As for its nine parks and gardens mentioned in the competition, they are not even half of those in Paris, the top champions of the list. Nothing is said about vertical or hanging gardens. However, from the glimpses that I gathered of this city, especially the garden that covers the Library of the University of Warsaw, I believe that this rare green jewel would deserve to be a reference example in the rankings and to be referred to as red, “the king of colors” (Heller, 2013 p.449) if we were to rely on the color theory defended by Goethe!

The words and images here expressed do little to convey this remarkable ecological representation because, in addition to its beautiful landscape composition, supported by the diversity of trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses, it is a garden that presents integrated solutions, contributing to regulating the temperature of the Library’s internal environment and managing its rainwater. Being at the top of this building is to perceive the models that benefit biodiversity, and, more explicitly, it is a way to be closer to the sky, both by seeing the materialization of ecological ideas, which were feasible there, and, indeed, by gaining precious moments, away from the asphalt and the grey dynamics that so  commonly surround and corrode urbanity.

 

Figures 1 to 4. Views from the upper garden

 

This garden is not a secret, but it inspires that feeling because the paths to get there were slightly tortuous. I was far from fluent in Polish, as much as the library security guards were far from fluent in English. Still, language, the driving force that makes us human beings, prevailed in this tenuous relationship and desire to get there. The gestures, alongside the grateful look, were worth more than words. I was once told: You only don’t communicate when the other person doesn’t want you to, and in that environment, unlike the airport, for example, the greenish atmosphere contributed to and invited interaction.

The security guard’s footsteps signalled me to get to the elevator. We went up. When the door to that darkroom opened, I was caught by the flash of natural light. It only took two steps for me to understand the contours of that fascinating and curious garden. After all, this spatiality can be understood through the lens of heterotopia, defended by Foucault (2013). It is a counter-space, a utopia realized, concretized and situated in reality. As such, it also exposes incompatibilities. I had a hard time digesting that some individuals go there and throw their leftovers outside trash cans. And precisely fast-food packaging linked to major global brands.

 

Figures 5 and 6. Trash cans and global brands

Overall, it was an encounter with a space that allows someone to isolate themself from the ground and its surroundings, ensuring exposure to a unique environment that leads us to contemplate Kairos’ time, as there we have a mark for the passage of each of the four seasons. The light given to the captured images was in the morning of late summer when the green was still incisive and overlapped the cultural texts implanted there, like a steel bridge connecting two sides of the garden, where the sunlight shone its silvery tone. The sculptures of the four intellectuals, inserted on the pillars placed inside the Library, could also be seen from there. The glass frame there allowed us to peek at this scene from above, like an angel in heaven observing what was happening in the earthly life. Surrounded by an iron frame painted green, this structure, similar to a bascule, gave light to the interior of the Library and, for those who walked in the garden, it opened up like a field of vision for those who enjoyed the garden. This ornamentation refers to the materials explored by Baudrillard (1969), such as glass, an iconic model that, in addition to isolating and protecting an environment, allows us to see its interior due to its transparency. In turn, the silver structures and the greenish glass are the stars that endorse this architecture. In this sense, there are other (en)charms with these materials in the garden that connect with the Library, such as a large glass dome that, on the inside, emerges as a skylight and, on the outside, is surprisingly surrounded by a frame of grasses that bless it, protecting it.

Figures 7 and 8. Covered glass dome

 

Figures 9 and 10. The library interior seen from outside

 

In this garden, we can exercise three visual dimensions: a myopic one, focusing on the group of greenery and structures installed there, or looking into the distance, seeing on the horizon a group of emblematic buildings of the city. The third lens is that of reality, as it is related to the borders that limit the garden. With this kind of view, we see the solar panels in the surroundings and the terraces of the neighbouring buildings, installed on the other side of the street, including the garden itself installed on the top of the University building, from where I saw this one, which I was visiting at the time.

 

Figures 11 to 13. Three visual dimensions

 

There are other corners to explore, such as an aluminum plateau, with a spyglass, from where you can admire the banks of the Vistula River, which divides the city. Very close to this corner, two long stairs appear, which if it weren’t for their steps, would be a fun slide for us to slide down and get to the park more quickly, which presents itself as a continuation of this suspended garden, but now on the ground. There are other labyrinths, other proposals, further away from the sky, which is blue, not green.

 

Figures 14 to 16. Other corners to explore

 

In turn, regarding the question of whether green has already reached the status of an empty signifier when it comes to sustainability, I think we are reaching that condition. But the more that is done in this sense, the more we will need gardens like these, so that we can recharge our forces based on Goethe, that is, signifying ourselves as modest greens.

 

Text and images: Cynthia Luderer (CECS/University of Minho)

Warsaw, september of 2024

Published in January 2nd, 2025

 

This short essay constitutes the second part of two short essays related to the Warsaw Library-Garden, with the first part available here.

 

References:

Baudrillard, J. (1969). El sistema de los objetos. Siglo XXI.

Essential Living (2023, May 31). The greenest cities in Europe.  https://www.essentialliving.co.uk/blogs-insights/the-greenest-cities-in-europe/

Foucault, M. (2013). O corpo utópico: as heterotopias. Edições. 

Heller, E. (2014). A psicologia das cores: Como as cores afetam a emoção e a razão. Editora Garamond.

Morin, E. (1991). O paradigma perdido: A natureza humana. 5ª ed. Publicações Europa-América.

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