Did you know that in Austria, areas the size of 20 soccer fields are sealed every day? Natural soils are among the largest carbon reservoirs in the world. Soil sealing makes it easier for flooding to occur, heat islands to form, and biodiversity to be lost.
Moss Graffiti: The perfect mix of nature, art and message
As a small group of students, we decided to raise awareness about this issue and also actively promote greening measures in public spaces. The following criteria were important for our project: a highly frequented location, a relatively quick possibility of implementation and an innovative design. Thus, the idea to realize a moss graffiti on the Danube Canal in the city center of Vienna was born.
After an extensive planning phase, we were ready to get active. A suitable location on the Danube Canal was found – important in the search: a place where legal spraying is allowed and a mounting option for a wooden plate on which the moss graffiti is placed so as not to damage the wall. In an action lasting several hours, a wall was painted over with white paint, the moss pads collected in the forest were glued to a wooden plate and placed on the wall, and appropriate slogans on the theme were sprayed all around.
In the center of the designed wall was the word “concrete”, in large letters made of moss. The aim was to attract the attention of passers-by with this contradiction and to encourage further discussion of the problem of soil sealing with the slogans.
Everyone was eagerly at work and we attracted the attention of passing Sunday strollers, who were also happy to ask us what was being created here and why.
Since the longevity of the designed wall cannot be guaranteed in such a high-traffic location, we documented the process with photos and a video, and based on this, we created a blog where we will share more detailed information about soil sealing, instructions for creating a DIY (do-it-yourself) moss graffiti, and our project experiences. Currently, our blog is still under construction, but you can already have a sneak peek here
The project was a great success, and the positive feedback encouraged us to implement further projects of this kind.
