The project was inspired by plant life within a city. During the residency, she was intrigued by the architectural and horticultural design of the Wohnpark Alterlaa residential complex in Vienna. 
Due to the general growth of urban populations and scarcity of the city space, nowadays, few people can afford to have their own gardens and trees. The possibility to grow vegetables and fruits is becoming a question of wealth and status. The artist takes particular interest in the situation of coexistence of nature, modernist architecture, and the living community. She imagines the synergy of these three elements and comes into direct contact with the residents in order to observe the emotional connections between people and their plants. Wohnpark Alterlaa was built between 1973 and 1985 as a social housing complex for affordable living with a high level of comfort and quality infrastructure. It consists of six monumental, high-rise buildings in which the apartments of the lower twelve levels have large plant troughs that serve as small gardens. This kind of balconies are representational — the residents can show off their gardening skills while enjoying their privacy, shielded from the outside gaze. Moreover, there is something very intimate and gentle in the relationship between the plants and their owners. One is domesticating nature, while the other is naturalizing a domestic environment. Ultimately, the artist is interested in finding out if a simple tree can become an heirloom or even a family member? Or is the collective humanity already irreversibly detached from other forms of life?

Text by Eva Kovac