One pot, two pot, puzzle pot, blue pot...

What do teddy bears (2005), lions (1986), benches (2001), and cows (1998) have in common? Zurich! Every few years the city does a "summer campaign" where there are hundreds of the same object all over the city, each one decorated in a unique way. The cows are the most famous and have since become a huge international art project as other cities have done their own exhibitions (now called CowParades) as well. Usually the theme will spill over into other events as well - for example, in 2005 there was a huge teddy-bear-lovers convention that took place at the Schützenhaus Albisgütli.

This year's project, called Garden City Zurich (another article here), has 307 enormous plant pots all over the city - on sidewalks, in the train station, everywhere! Each pot cost CHF 1000 to buy. Most of them have been sponsored by different shops and companies and decorated by well-known artists and designers. Each pot has its own plaque listing the sponsor, artist, and a whole paragraph describing the huge plants that fill them. In some ways it's kind of a big advertising gimmick for the sponsors and artists, but... it's still cool!

Here are some of the colorful pots on display between the train station and Rennweg. Sorry for the less-than-stellar photos, I forgot my camera at home and had to use my phone instead.

The Body Shop and Kurz Jewelers pots (there had to be at least one with diamonds - this is Zurich after all!).

I like how the three people in this picture all have colorful/patterned clothes on as well - they look like they belong right there with the pots!

You'll often find me here - Orell Füssli, The Bookshop. The place to stock up on English books!

These two pots are outside Franz Carl Weber, the toystore.

Seeing all these today put me in a really good mood - the sun is shining, summer is here, and I love living near a city that does neat things like this! The exhibit is on display until September 19th.