Linked to World Water Day 2026, Tettye Forrásház Zrt. has launched an unconventional street art project in the public spaces of Pécs. The company has installed five artistically painted fire hydrants at various busy and symbolic spots around the city.
The initiative, called “FlowPontok: színes csapok, élő város” (FlowPoints: colourful hydrants, living city) – unique in Hungary – aims to use art to draw attention to urban utilities and to make visible the systems working in the background that provide the safety and comfort of our everyday lives. The utility company intends the artistic transformation of these functional, everyday objects to start a conversation about the value of water and utilities, while hopefully brightening up the city’s public spaces for a long time to come.
“We walk past countless fire hydrants every day. Like the 17,000 manhole covers and 1,540 kilometres of pipe network beneath our feet, they are part of the vital system that keeps Pécs alive, yet they go unnoticed. With this project we want to show that utilities can also be part of a city’s identity. The fire hydrants are now stepping out of their usual role and asking for attention,” said Adrienn Csöngei, the company’s head of communications.
The first artistic fire hydrants have been placed in the centre of Pécs, but special, colourful fittings will also pop up in other parts of the city during the year.
An important consideration was that, just like their traditional red counterparts, the custom hydrants should stand out from their surroundings. The castings were therefore given strong, contrasting colours and simple shapes. The decorations reflect Pécs’s defining cultural and urban characters, as well as water.
Káptalan utca, for example, is adorned with a hydrant decorated in a style inspired by Victor Vasarely, created to mark the Vasarely 2026 memorial year in cooperation between Tettye Forrásház and the JPM Vasarely Museum. “Vasarely” pays tribute to the work of the master of optical illusions: the surface of the casting echoes the Plastic Alphabet system of forms created by the artist, with alternating colours and basic shapes marking planes.
The “Zsolnay” hydrant on Jókai tér evokes the factory’s famous yellow glaze, its faience and one of its oldest motifs, the butterfly – and the hydrant was decorated using the same process and technique as genuine porcelain.
“Bubbles” on Széchenyi tér depicts the life-giving power of the water that keeps the city running; the “Alphabet” hydrant, studded with letters and typographic elements at the end of Király utca, symbolises the city’s identity as a university town; and “Tiger”, on Kossuth tér, offers a light-hearted visual game.
The hydrants were painted by Balázs Bubreg, an artist from Pécs, for whom the project offered a special change of perspective, Turizmus.com reports, based on an article by pecsma.hu.
Source: Turizmus.com