symbol vs. icon

The nursery has been written about extensively and by many, certainly better than I will do now. No sooner has the pavement been completely cleaned up following the dismantling, than another vertical landmark has been (re)erected in Victory Square - timing at the heart of this speech. The nursery has been present in the last year in articles, social media posts, as a project entered and winning at the BNA (national architecture biennial), etc. It has stirred controversy and has been the fruit of contradictory discussions between generations, and not only, with often opposing views. In short, the complex and meaningful dialogue has been understood and interpreted in many ways. From descriptions such as "spectacular...one of the symbols of the European Capital" (Zeppelin) to "A nut-in-the-wall project... Kind of pointless" (random and repetitive Facebook comment).

The adaptation of the market from one temporary installation to another, accompanied by an inevitable change of spatial character fascinates me so much that I decided to redo the set of photos from this summer. a strong contrast between two objects that expose two different yet equally present faces of society. One focused on the importance, understanding and assumption of public space and green space in the city, on how this is or should be managed and used in the future while the new object, similar in scale of intervention, represents a banal and decorative urban solution to the Christmas tree. I'm almost certain that this object perpetuated year after year receives maximum appreciation from those who vehemently criticized the 'scaffolding'.

Of course, the Christmas tree is an overused symbol that has been around since an early age, and the decoration of central squares in the run-up to the holidays has long been practiced. In the West, on the other hand, public space has a different quality. I pause here for a moment to mention that I am not against this type of use of public space, but rather the random way in which it is staged here - year after year the tree is placed in a different position, without any indication that it takes account of the context in which it is placed. In contrast, the recently dismantled object has been sensitively positioned in an urban setting of symbolic, historical and other value.

Finally, the photographs aim to highlight dichotomies such as natural/artificial, iconic/symbolic, experiential installation/decorative installation.