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| Urban Glasshouses |
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text and photo by Balázs Antal (artist), László Hatházi (artist) and Zita Sárvári (aesthete) Have you ever had a preconception about a houseplant? In Budapest display windows, there exists a culture of growing indoor tropical plants, which seems to talk about the way people connect with the socialist past. It looks like time stopped in these small communal-private spaces around 1970-80, creating small enclaves of the socialist period. Normally, a display window has the function to offer products for sale or advertise companies. At the same time, buildings with social functions like post offices, libraries, and hospitals can also have large display windows. These spaces, having no commercial function, could possibly face the question of an empty window. In Budapest, though, display windows generally are transformed into people’s personal spaces. After they probably lost their commercial function many years ago, owners or occupants started to use these windows as greenhouses for indoor plants. These special display windows are absolutely appropriate for plants, providing plenty of sunshine through huge glass surfaces. "Our library was opened in 1961. I consider this an important fact because the building and its inner architectural forms reflect that period in every way. The library was built with huge glass surfaces, so there were diverse plants in the library from the beginning." (Entrusted Leader of the Children’s Library of Terézváros, Budapest.)  The reasons inciting these unofficial gardeners today could be similar to the reasons from the socialist period. An office full of austere houseplants makes the workers feel better, creating a more liveable environment. "The salon looks much better like this. More people stop and look inside since we have plants and not pictures in the shop-window, especially when this red one is starting to blossom." (Lady from a hair salon in Budapest) Very few people seem interested in these weird and aesthetic spaces, but to us it seems illuminating to look behind these windows, and collect the personal motivations, histories and memories. "We can say, every plant has a personal story. For example, we have a plant which reminds us of our colleague – who died two years ago – because it was her present to the library." (Entrusted Leader of the Children’s Library of Terézváros, Budapest.)  This phenomenon takes us from the aesthetical dimension to social and political dimensions: "Partly they have a pedagogical aim, and also an aesthetic function. It is necessary for the children to get used to taking care of the plants in their environment and to acquaint themselves with the indoor plants. The children look after these plants like their own. We have many plants as presents from readers. The other aim is the aesthetic sight of the library from the outside. Many people stop and look at the plants. Some of them come in and ask questions about them. They ask for information and advice about the keeping of these houseplants." (Entrusted Leader of the Children’s Library of Terézváros, Budapest.) These plants are symptoms of permanency, and maybe of transformation, but not of revolution. We are dealing with only a partial metamorphosis. These indoor plants tell a story of nostalgia; yet, unlike other everyday objects they are in their gestalt not subjects to changes in design, packing and advertising. “At the post offices, sadly there are less and less plants in the display windows. Nowadays you can have your own camel on the internet, you can feed it, and play with as if it was a real one, but it would be more important to take care of the living creatures around you. Through these activities, you can learn more about life. The plants are a very good interface of communication with the children and the readers. Also with the shy ones." (Entrusted Leader of the Children’s Library of Terézváros, Budapest.)  Yet, the houseplants also underlie fashions. One could write a history of houseplant-keeping culture: about the typical houseplants of the socialist era in Eastern Europe and about why these plants were the most typical ones. These plants left strong marks in our memories of this period. For example, the plant Sansevieria trifasciata, also called ‘mother-in-law tongue’ in every-day speech, is known to be ideal for offices. “It handles certain office conditions like cigarette smoke well and doesn’t need special care,” – this is what a Hungarian houseplant lexicon from the eighties says. In the spirit of the retro-cult, Sansevieria trifasciata lately has become popular again in Hungary. Presently, you can find these nostalgic plants in the windows of fashionable cafes. Last, but not least, keeping plants in display windows is a gendered phenomenon. Often the ladies working in shops claim they like to work in a cosier environment. They explain that taking care of plants gives variety to their work and is a meditative pursuit. "First of all we are girls. We love flowers and plants! We have been growing flowers and plants in the window for ten years. I took this red one from home." (Lady from a hair salon in Budapest)  back to projects<< >>next contribution |