REIMAGINING URBAN CITYSCAPES

Barcelona City Council has initiated a program, Tactical Urbanism, to help redefine the Barcelona cityscape through fostering new uses of urban spaces for pedestrians and motorists.

Using a vernacular language, panots, inspired by Barcelona’s traditional paving stones, Arauna Studio were able to develop a flexible visual code that adapts to the diverse needs of each urban space. The vernacular language is a flexible graphic system that can create infinite forms, allowing it to respond to diverse urban spaces that may arise in the future. For example, a certain pattern or shape will outline a place for gathering or bike lanes etc.

Through this visual code, each urban space has been colourfully crafted with patterns and symbols. Using time and cost-effective paint application techniques, each signage element adds warmth to the inherently mundane surfaces. By transforming the streets typical functions, Tactical Urbanism aims to reclaim urban spaces into more pedestrian-friendly areas to be used as gathering places and to provide citizens a place to relax in urban areas.

Making travel easier, new forms of communicating with pedestrians and motorists is in play with street names to be displayed on the pavement to help guide pedestrians around the city. Using the vernacular language too, custom typography was created to indicate public space usage, street names, schools and other urban areas.

Images Arnau Rovira via designboom

Tactical Urbanism aims to create inviting urban areas for citizens to enjoy and through creative graphic design, a system that will outline certain areas of the cityscape for the community to gather in and make travelling around the city easier.