Plantlovers. The invisible botany of urban spaces.
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Can we reconnect with nature through the plants in our homes? “Plantlovers - The invisible botany of urban spaces” explores the phenomenon of indoor gardening in a larger sociological, environmental and historical context. Based on our own creative practice and research initiatives that went as far as running an actual plant shop, “Plantlovers” seeks to challenge the perception of interior plants as objects of decoration, juxtaposing the collective obsession with lush foliage with post-colonialism, eco-feminism, and multispecies collaboration, and pointing at the ironic (un)sustainability of the horticulture industry as a whole. As a book with a unique, rhizomatic layout, “Plantlovers” aims to assemble a portrait of a generation whose living conditions are objectively worse than those of our predecessors, and to examine, through the lens of urban ethnobotany and documentary photography, our relationship with nature: both in our homes and beyond.
The book is divided into three parts, which are intertwined thematically and formally, offering three alternative ways how to begin the story and three ways how to finish. This idea is inspired by the botanical concept of rhizome: the underground part of a plant that, unlike the roots, has no end or beginning and each part is equally important for the plant.
Its unusual, elongated format - in elegant Swiss binding - is a reference to the plants' need to reach for the light so that our planet can thrive.
Featuring interviews with:
Alice Vincent (book author and The Guardian columnist)
Penny Sparke (design historian)
Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts (designers - studio d-o-t-s, curators - Plant Fever exhibition), Michal Matlon (spatial psychologist), Julia Loeffler (designer), Miranda Janatka (horticulture expert, journalist, BBC Gardeners' World Magazine)
Interspersed among the text are images by Vojtěch Veškrna, a documentary photographer with a perfect attention to detail and ability to see a powerful story where no one else would look.
Its layout was created by graphic designer Jolana Sýkorová, who is also the author of Haenke's visual identity, referring to Victoria regia, one of the world's largest water lilies. It was Thaddeus Haenke, a Czech-German botanist, who reportedly spotted the plant in the Bolivian jungle sometime around 1810, and described it for the first time to European audiences.
In autumn 2022, the Czech language version came out (self-published, 1000 copies).
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Plantlovers. Neviditelná botanika městského prostředí mapuje současný fenomén pokojových rostlinv v kontextu aktivit Haenke. Zasazuje tento trend do širších společenských, kulturních a ekonomických souvislostí a seznamuje s pozadím vybraných projektů této pražské iniciativy od instalací ve veřejném prostoru po komunitní aktivity. Nabízí také kritické zamyšlení nad udržitelností obchodu s rostlinami a rozhovory s českými i zahraničními autory, designéry, kurátory a zahradníky. Doprovází ji dokumentární fotografie Vojtěcha Veškrny - vítěze letošního ročníku cen Czech Grand Design - v unikátním grafickém zpracování typografky Jolany Sýkorové. Vytištěno na papíře Pergraphica s FSC certifikací.