Concrete vs greenery. Is it worth fighting for every tree in the city? (Part IV)

06 of April '23

Malgorzata Kuciewicz and Simone De Iacobis

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The article is from A&B issue 03|23

Urban nature bases its ability to regenerate on continuity, so it is important to discover natural connections and strengthen them. Every green space, regardless of its area, matters because it is a component of the city's ecosystem.

Soilbarium - seating for animal guests of the exhibition "Anthropocene" in Zodiac - Warsaw Architecture Pavilion design: Centrala fall 2022

Street trees connect with their crowns into patches of greenery, flower beds are bridges between larger green spaces, parks and urban forests. A single tree can be responsible for nature's continuity, the circulation of matter and the flow of energy. Even a dead tree, a fallen log in a park for natural decomposition, or a decaying grub - a rooted stump left after a tree has been cut down. Such decaying stumps are refuges of valuable lichens, fungi, worms and other destructors, creatures responsible for closing the life cycle. The tree goes through phases of growth and dying, but also decomposition leading to regrowth. Fine dead organic matter carried by the wind as detritus will nourish more plants, including those overgrowing the architecture.

Soilbarium - seating for the animal guests of the exhibition "Anthropocene" in Zodiac - Warsaw Architecture Pavilion design: Centrala fall 2022

Other gifts of trees - piles of fallen leaves - can be appreciated as a habitat for small animals. When they are left alone to rot and decay for a longer period of time, they will become leaf soil. The majesty of the tree should also be seen in the potential of its decaying form, among other fertile foliage that enriches the ground. The ecosystem depends on soil, but this dynamic layer of the city rarely appears in urban considerations. Sealed by concrete and asphalt pavements, it is cut off from the rest of the system of matter and energy flow and hidden from our reflection.