According to Blesk.cz, large-scale paintings are starting to appear more often in the streets of Prague. However, V Háji Street, in Holešovice, is now wholly unique.
The Tesla building is decorated with a giant mural with a girl’s face, which has an unusual feature. Thanks to striking colors, the mural can clean the surrounding air with the same intensity as an equally large forest area.
Such paintings may be a suitable form of improving the air in the future, especially in cities where there is a problem with planting greenery and no place for it.
Mural, large-scale paintings, graffiti – all of the instances are referred to as street art. Recently, paintings by modern artists have started to appear more often in the streets of Prague.
Undoubtedly, we are talking about those legal, thoughtful, and processed by the masters of their craft, pieces of art. No one wants to have ugly scribbles on the building’s facades that can remind some people of the plague of past decades.
In recent times, large-scale paintings decorate gray walls around the metropolis. For example, at the Opatov and Vltavská metro stations, new murals are now being prepared.
A few days ago, the Vychovatelna mural tram stop that will commemorate Operation Anthropoid was created in Prague 8. Nevertheless, even greater uniqueness has emerged in Holešovice recently: a 350 m2 painting of a girl’s face was formed on the Tesla building, which has one impressive feature. It can clean the surrounding air in the same way as trees can.
Colors that clean the air
The giant mural was created as part of the campaign for a more sustainable future, We Share The Same Future, backed by two multinational companies, Footshop and Nike. ‘We didn’t want to do another advertisement on the facade. That is why we contacted David Strauzz, an expert in the field of large-format painting, and offered him this new concept,’ explained Jan Sedloň, Footshop’s brand manager.
Furthermore, the place was not chosen by chance at all. The Tesla building is large enough, so it was possible to use as many unique colors as possible to clean the surrounding air. Soon, the Tesla building will be reconstructed, so there is no need to dispose of the painting.
For the 350 m2 painting, 130 kilograms of the unique ecological paint Airlite from Italy, which is 100% made of minerals, was used. Colors work on the principle of photocatalysis: the contact of the paint with the energy of sunlight leads to the chemical decomposition of harmful substances, which are transformed into already safe salt molecules.
Overall, the painting can absorb up to 88% of pollutants from the air, eliminate nitrogen oxides, VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and leave no room for mold or overheating of the building.
Although the painting can’t provide things like asbestos removal, it can remove many pollutants that don’t involve particulate matter.
Solutions for the future?
In the nearest future, such kinds of paintings could be a solution to clean the air in cities. The effects are the same as the same area of forest. It is evident that greenery can never be replaced by anything. Still, as a supplement, it is definitely a valuable asset. The only obstacle can be the price: such a large wall will cost hundreds of thousands of crowns.
The mural will remain in Maniny until the end of the summer. It will disappear due to the planned reconstruction of the entire building. To a surprise, special paints do not lose their ability to clean the air even after a very long time. ‘The company that produces these eco-friendly paints is 10 years old by now, and their first projects included painting a tunnel in Rome. To this day, it eats up pollutants and cleans the environment, so for now, we know that painting can work for at least 10 years,” concludes Sedloň.
