Timisoara opens temporary urban garden in the city center

Timisoara, this year's European Capital of Culture, will have an urban garden in its Victory Square for the next ten months. The garden features plants produced based on the catalog of a famous gardener from the early 20th century.

Passersby will enjoy unique perspectives of the city from the installation, including the tower of the first bank in Timisoara; the balcony of the Opera House from where one can see the Cathedral, the place where the first people died in December 1989; the Lofler Palace, which still bears bullet marks; or the place where the retail store of the Mühle dynasty of gardeners was located.

“We found the commercial catalog of the gardener Mühle at the Timisoara Museum of Art and based on that we chose some of these compositions. Some are produced. We only added the perennial layers and we will add a layer of annual species, including vegetables, flowers, trailing plants, climbing plants, weeping plants, and all kinds. It will grow constantly, we will probably have over 200 species and varieties," said landscape architect Alexandru Ciobota cited by G4Media.

The garden installation is a temporary one, made of a modular metal structure. It includes a plant nursery, and it is open to the general public for a period of 10 months until the end of 2023. Each platform offers a viewpoint with unique perspectives on iconic buildings and spaces, as well as space for multiple cultural activities.

Local authorities say that the installation can be seen as a test for new possibilities of using, imagining, and perceiving public space, sparking a discussion regarding the future urban transformations of the area.

Once the plant nursery's lifespan is over, the structure, trees, and plants will be put back into circulation, respecting the logic of total reuse of resources. The structure was made by the Order of Architects of Romania - Timis Territorial Branch.

Timisoara expects between 500,000 and one million visitors during the European Capital of Culture year, mayor Dominic Fritz said at the opening event on February 17. The complete calendar of the February 17-19 opening weekend is available here.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Cornel Putan)