Brutal Green

An exploration into the psychological effects of having plants in office spaces.

A collaboration with the Czech Centre London.

Video by Anezka Horova.

The Czech Centres are dedicated to promoting and supporting Czech culture abroad, and the Czech Centre in London is in a strategic position given its location. For the team around the then director, Dr. Tereza Porybná, 2017 meant moving from the premises in Covent Garden, a few steps from the Royal Opera House, to the legendary and award-winning Czechoslovak Embassy building in Notting Hill. Its creator, architect Jan Bočan, won the prestigious RIBA award in 1971 for his brutalist building, which is itself a memento of a generation of artists.

The Brutal Green project was the first time we explored the function of plants in interiors - it is often offices devoid of humanity - and the possibilities for distractions such as photos, souvenirs and plants - which, according to the UK's the Guardian, are the most toxic space you could ever put a human being in. According to a 2014 study by the University of Exeter, which looked at quality of life in offices in Europe and the US, a greater concentration of greenery in the workplace increases focus and productivity, with employee memory increasing by as much as 15%.

London's iconic plantshop, the Conservatory Archives, helped select the plants; the hand-poured concrete planters are from design studio Conpot London. They source the material for their products from different geological regions across the UK, resulting in a unique product that has a slightly different weight and colouring each time. The video for the project was made by visual artist Anežka Horová, a graduate of FAMU in Prague. She created the music for the video by gluing together soundtracks that she recorded during the installation of the plants in London.