Natureza Urbana: SĂŁo Paulo
JosĂŠ Subero
Man & Humanity Masters Thesis Design Academy Eindhoven June 2008 The Netherlands
Abstract
This work addresses a latent opportunity for urban transformation opened by a ban of advertisement in the city of S達o Paulo. A relevant situation to look into, for it is the first time in history for a city to carry out such a challenging action. This action completely transfigured the image of the city and created a radical change in the perception of the urban environment. Something that could have further implications on a global level influencing other cities to question, among other things, issues of identity in their cities as well as the presence of adverts in regards to the well being of the inhabitants. This investigation was undertaken in a twopart process: First, while working in the Netherlands, I started to gather material, to try out initial ideas and initiated conversations with contacts in Brazil. Second, a research trip to S達o Paulo; which lead to the exploration of certain parts of the city, establishing more structured conversations with locals and confronting the actual situation with the preliminary ideas. Throughout my research diverse opinions emerged regarding this transformation. These opinions indicated that there is room for a possibility of giving this current momentum of change a turn and repurpose the former ad structures into mediums that highlight parts of the city that they once covered.
Acknoledgments
All the staff and mentors from Man & Humanity: Anna Crossetti, Erna Beumers, Frans Parthesius, Aldo Bakker, BasRaijmakers, Satyendra Pakhalé. For their assistance through this investigation. Special thanks to Erna Beumers and Bas Raijmakers for their help with contacts. My family, for their total support in everything. Very special thanks to my family in Europe, all DAE classmates: David A., Jihyun, Monika, Laura, Juan, Regis, Esin, Jonny, Suvi, Valentina, Rachel J., Martin, Paula C. for going their constant support and going through this together. All other DAE classmates. Rachel Baker for her immense help on making this thesis grammatically correct. Jeffrey Werner for his help to photograph the study models. Ivet Reyes Maturano for her kindness to let me borrow her computer for so long. Pim (metal workshop) for his assistance on building the final models. Geerte Wachter (Prince Claus Fund) for her interest in the topic and providing many contacts in Brazil. Andrea Bandoni for her great help and providing information and contacts in São Paulo. In Brazil: Ana Paula Campos for being a great host and helper in São Paulo. Julia Fraia for her great support and sharing her insight of the city. The lady from the library of Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo for providing info on the Clean City Law. The entire group of Bijari, for all their help and the great experience of working together. All the interviewees for sharing precious insight on their city: Prof. Vera Pallamin Carla Caffé Tatiane Schilaro (special thanks for cartographic data, and other information of São Paulo) Paula Dibb Fernando Maculan All others that in some way made a contribution to the development of this thesis.
Contents
Introduction
1.São Paulo, Cidade Limpa.
1.1 Ads in São Paulo, A brief overview. 3-6
1.2 Law Cidade Limpa
7-8
2.Impressions of a “clean” city. 2.1 A preliminary look 10-16
2.2 A first look 17-20
3. A moment for action. 3.1 Possibilities: Natureza Urbana 22-30 4. Conclusions 32 5. Methodologies
34
6. Bibliography
36-37
Cited images
38
Introduction
São Paulo has taken a brave initiative by becoming the first large city to say no to outdoor advertisement in a very strong and determined way. This is particularly significant in today’s times when the presence of advertisement appears to be swallowing the surface of our cities. This action offers the opportunity to rethink the urban environment and its elements in many levels. It is this peculiar situation that has led me to the question: Is it possible to turn the consequences of the ad ban to enrich the quality of the urban experience in the city of São Paulo?
The research was partly carried out from the Netherlands, and later on through observations and interviews conducted in São Paulo; it was possible to gain insight of a situation not found at this time in any other city. A unique situation that has echoed within Brazil, with the potential to greatly influence many other countries that are currently considering the effects of excessive outdoor advertisement in their cities. The relevancy of this investigation lies in bringing to light possibilities that could be of use for future transformations in undermined urban areas, through the implementation of strategies that rethink the city elements and are able to bring together efforts of different groups in favor of a richer experience of the city environment. Having positive implications on many layers, especially in regards of the identity of a city.
This investigation does not look for praising or for examining the political structure of the advertisement ban, but to show the potential adaptation of these recently vacated publicity spaces for a new urban transformation in the city of São Paulo. The main purpose of this work is to present an alternative of use to the billboards structures that once were the support for a commercial order that enfolded the city. Turning these structures into a medium that grants the inhabitants of São Paulo a precious insight into their own city that maybe they have missed. Creating an opportunity for a less polluted public space, which offers a promise of alternative use and coexistence, between the former advertising infrastructure and nature.
2
First typographic office from the state of São Paulo
Ave. São João beginnig XXth century
São Paulo City Center 1954
1900’s
Rua 15th Novembro beginnig XXth century
1950
1891 1930’s
1960
1.1 Ads in Sao Paulo. A brief overview
Martinelli building 1929 Ave. São João
3
4
1970
2000 1980
1990
2006
2007 Ad Ban
5
6
1.2 Law Cidade Limpa It also facilitates a clear visualization of street characteristics, as well as natural and constructed elements of the city. The Clean City Law assists the fluid interaction between vehicles and pedestrians, reinforcing the security of buildings and to assure easier access to public services on streets and public parks. Other features of the law include the standardization, simplification and reduction of signage displayed in front of shop properties that now have to follow revised legislation. In addition to these features the law refers to the displacement of outdoor publicity over sidewalks, correct placement in interior and exterior as well as regulations for the use of “totems” or tubular billboards structures. The “cleansing” effects of the law go even further, to an extent of prohibiting all other forms of publicity in public spaces, such as distribution of flyers, small banners and posters.
“The Clean City Law came from a necessity to combat pollution . . . pollution of water, sound, air, and the visual. We decided that we should start combating pollution with the most conspicuous sector – visual pollution.” Gilberto Kassab, Mayor of São Paulo. (Harris, 2007)
On the 26th of September 2006 the Municipal chamber of the city of São Paulo approved almost unanimously Law 14.223 more commonly known as “Lei Cidade Limpa” (The Clean City Law). The Clean City Law was passed with the aim of regulating the use of urban space as a communication medium. The Clean City Law came into effect on the first of January 2007 controlling the ban of outdoor publicity (billboards, posters and banners) where by the first of April all commercial establishment signs not fixed according to the legal requirements would be financially liable. This law was intended to create a more balanced relationship between the elements that compose the urban landscape of Sao Paulo. The Clean City Law specifically addresses the visual pollution and environmental degradation of the city. The greatest impact of The Clean City Law is the prohibition of advertisements in urban lots. These include walls, enclosures and lateral surfaces of buildings, as well as ads on cars, buses, motorcycles, bikes, etc. The Clean City Law attempts to preserve the cities historic and cultural memory.
An estimated amount of nearly 15,000 legal and illegal billboards were removed in São Paulo at an alarming pace in the first months of the ban. This number equated to the major part of the billboards occupying in the city. This action did not happen without strong complaints from the advertisement agencies and other sectors critically affected by the decision. Border, the Brazilian Association of Advertisers, called the new laws “unreal, ineffective and fascist”. It pointed to the tens of thousands of small 7
businesses that would have to bear the burden of altering their shopfronts. “A prediction of US$133 million in lost advertising revenue for the city surfaced in the press, while the São Paulo outdoor media owners’ association, Sepex, warned that 20,000 people would lose their jobs”. (Burgoyne 2007) Contrary to the backlash from the advertising sector, popular reaction from the people of Sao Paulo has been quite supportive of the law. As the reporter from Folhã de São Paulo Vinicius Galvão explains: “The owners of the buildings, even if they have to renovate a building, they’re strongly supporting that. It’s a massive campaign to improve the city. The advertisers, they complain, but they’re agreeing with the ban.” (Galvão 2007). This has been shown further through the people’s lack of support of the counter-campaign in favor of keeping the billboards sponsored by U.S. multinational Clear Channel Communications, one of the fiercest opponents to the law.(fig.1.) The implementation of The Clean City Law has introduced a new mindset to the inhabitants of San Paulo in regards to minimizing visual pollution. This trend has also extended to other cities in Brazil as well as influencing attitudes to reduce visual pollution from neighboring countries, such as Argentina and Chile (Penteado and Hampp 2007). Although the move to ban billboards in Sao Paulo has received much positive feedback the city authorities have not definitely expressed alternate possibilities for these structures except for the potential reinstallation of government regulated signage and street furniture. (Ibid.)
Fig.1. Counter campaign against removal of billboards. São Paulo. 8
2.1 A preliminary look. While being in the Netherlands I started to research deeply into this subject, talking to contacts in Brazil, reading what I could find on the topic and then based on my findings I started to speculate, trying to give answers to the questions above.
“…To see so well that you hear too… and hear so well that you see too.” Louis Khan.
For as long as I can remember I have been surrounded by advertisement and propaganda. Surfaces selling you everything, from products to events to services, with so many structures around that I have grown accustomed to them. I feel that they have developed into a part of the essential makeup of a city and one could even say they have become a referencing system for orientation within the city.
São Paulo is a city of 11 million people. The process of transformation through The Clean City Law provoked diverse opinions from its inhabitants. It was once called by its dwellers a “Cinza” (gray) city due to its great proportion of concrete surfaced buildings. Instead, today São Paulo is being compared by some of its inhabitants to cities of Eastern Europe before the fall of communism. While others describe it as becoming more “serene” as the oversized images and neon lights are quickly fading from the public realm.
So now how would a city be without all of these advertising structures? What happens to the perception of a city when something that in a way has become part of the identity disappears? These are some of the many questions I posed to myself.
2. Impressions of a “clean” city.
Fig.2. Billboard before the ad ban.
Fig.3. Billboard removal after ad ban.
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Around 15,000 billboards covered all parts of São Paulo with commercial images. Now empty, these structures frame pieces of the city. The city itself goes into the frame, becomes the content.(fig.4) The emphasis that was given to ads before is now given to whatever the structures frame, in particular the daily and mundane pieces of the puzzle that create São Paulo’s cityscape. In effect, I was starting to look at what alternatives these structures could offer as a result of this phenomenon.
the perception of your environment could change. And also how these two aspects could contribute to a new proposal for empty billboards spaces.
Perhaps an opportunity to “rediscover the city and its real reference points” as stated Paula Dibb, a product designer based in São Paulo and part of my network of contacts in Brazil. She reflects on her experience “...in the first moments when the ad ban happened I felt a relief, something sensorial, the opposite effect of the subliminal advertising. [...] the fact that it wasn’t there anymore created a blank in my head that now could be used for other things.” She continues: “ Now, going through the city, I can see the trees better, the buildings better, the people better...Once you realize where you are you get a better notion about yourself, once you get a better notion about yourself, you mind about where you are.” (2007) Through the conversations with Paula Dibb I have come to realize the importance of how you could ‘see’ the city, as well as how significantly
“The world is full of signs and information, which stand for things that no one fully understands because they, too, turn out to be mere signs for other things.” (17) A confusing strata of elements composing the surface of the city, another skin where “the real thing remains hidden. No one ever gets to see it.” (Ibid.) (fig.5) The uncovering of all these elements brings numerous things to surface. My role as a designer comes in to give this experience of rediscovery and change a new form in the same realm that these layers of symbols were present in public space. So when Paula Dibb talks about a blank in her head exploitable for other things (2007) I feel that this is not a longing to bring back other images or ads, nor do I feel that she is saying that now she doesn’t have to resist to what these ads were selling, rather I consider she expresses a conscious desire for a different experience in an evolved urban space. An aspect, that is worth considering in my future design proposals.
Fig.5. Electronic billboard. São Paulo.
Fig.4. Empty billboard. São Paulo.
The mere act of realizing where you are implies a sense of orientation. For many people, in the city of São Paulo their idea of orientation revolved around the many structures of advertising. The perception of the urban environment went through a great change when these elements disappeared suddenly out the scene. In his work Thinking Architecture, Peter Zumthor says about perception: 11
From this standpoint, I started to develop ideas based on some aspects that emerged. My immediate reactions were to propose alternative uses and new relations between these objects and people, getting the most out of the structures as they are now while pondering what could they potentially do for their immediate context.
Fig.6. Blank billboard. São Paulo. 12
One of my first suggestions aims to take advantage of how the natural light could pass through the empty ad structures. My objective would be to produce very subtle changes in public areas, casting shadows that change during the course of the day and therefore transforming the atmosphere and appearance of the immediate environment. (fig.7-8) Alternatively I explored the idea of using the billboards as supports that allow people to see the surrounding environment through a medium that visually changes the perception of that space. As a part of this experience, I wanted to express in a different way that the structure that once masked the city behind images now helps to reveal and expose details of it. (fig 9)
Fig.7. ”Shadow Carpet” view of model.
Fig.8.”Shadow Carpet” detail.
Fig.9.”Lens” view of study model. 13
14
After these preliminary experiments I wanted to explore other ways in which these billboards could facilitate a different approach to viewing the city. (Perec 210) This idea lead me to explore a way in which people could become aware of the contextual sounds of the city and provide a different impression of that environment. I wanted to use the space within the billboards to create an isolated enclosure.(fig.10) This enclosure has an opening at the top that frames a piece of São Paulo’s sky where natural light can come through. The enclosure is mirrored on the outer surface to both reflect its surroundings and also to blend in with the urban context.(fig.11) Rather than obstructing part of the view of the city as the previous billboard structure did this idea is intended to create interesting city reflections of what is happening around it. My last proposal looks for the possibility to grow nature in the inner city using old advert structures using the green to contrast not only with the extensive amount of gray concrete buildings, but also to create coexisting green and structural elements that cast hybrid shadows onto the street. My idea was that if you could put nature in a place that was commonly associated with commercial images within a busy cityscape, this could possibly be visually stimulating as well as being a potential new reference to the city. (fig.12-13)
Fig.10. “Rediscovery” View of study model
Fig.11. “Rediscovery” View of study model
In recapping my preliminary findings there are many areas that I would like to take into consideration when designing my future proposals. These areas of interest enclose such ideas as how one might ‘see’ or perceive the city void of ad billboards. How one might adopt new points of orientation, as well as how one might experience a different and evolved urban space. And finally, how the contextual surrounding could be read in a new way whilst exploring a relationship between nature and the ad structures. Fig.12. Frame+Nature. Photomontage by author 15
Fig.13 Frame+Nature. Photomontage by author 16
2.2 A first look “The dimensions of the billboards, the size of the images… São Paulo was very saturated, absurdly saturated. For me it was a relief.” Pallamin also proclaimed that “São Paulo has a very modest architecture, I think more construction than architecture…so now you see the city as it is, very simple and I prefer that. I think that learning from this modesty in the city, somehow brings a more respectful attitude.”(2007). From my communication with Pallamin I have understood that this modesty in a sense is about showing what you have but also making the most of that substance without necessarily engaging in big gestures. It is about taking advantage of the momentum of change and to go for the chance to explore the ordinary further.
“Absence is the highest form of presence” Rem Koolhaas, S, M, L, XL
I arrived to São Paulo at 6:35 am on Thursday February 21st 2008. I took the bus from Guarulhos airport to Praça da República located in the very center of town and very close to my hotel. On the road, everything seemed normal, could not notice any absence of advertisement near the airport. But as we were getting closer to the center I had my first encounter with a few empty ads structures. All of them were different, varying in sizes, height and types of support, but all of them shared the same feature... they were stripped off any images, bare structure exposed. I have to say it felt a bit strange, not because I had not seen an empty billboard before but because looking at them felt strangely silent. (fig.14-15)
Fig.14. View of billboard on top of abandoned building. São Paulo’s city center. 17
Fig.15. Blank billboard. Outskirts of São Paulo
Fig.16. Street advertisers. Ave Consolação São Paulo.
When I arrived at my destination I was surprised to see there were no structures at all. I was expecting to find structures in every direction I walked, but I couldn’t find any. The city hall had worked fast. In fact, I felt no change for a city that banned advertisement. I found a very hectic city center filled with street sellers, people rushing to work, and many people handing out flyers (even though this is banned by law) as well as carrying the most strange adverts on boards: “Compro ouro” (I buy gold), “Estacione perto” (Park your car near) just outside shops and lots no more than five meters away.(fig.16) Apparently at eye level everything remained the same, the difference was above.
The area around the center of the city has many tall buildings, a great number of them are art deco style, but most of them are plain concrete block with large surfaces without openings. On these surfaces I could see traces of what seemed to be former ads that covered entire sides of these buildings. Now, these ads are gone as a result of the law. (fig.17) The impact from the removal of the advertisements ignited differing personal opinions from the residents of São Paulo ranging from contentment to disappointment. One supportive opinion of the ban was from Professor Vera Pallamin, a landscape architect and teacher at FAUUSP. Pallamin explained,
Fig.17. View of side of building with no ads. São Paulo’s city center. 18
Contrary to the positive attitude that Pallamin had in reference to the removal of the advertisements, other São Paulo residents expressed some concerns with the ramifications of the new transformation. One such opinion came from an interview with Tatiane Schilaro, an architect who works at VivaOCentro an organization that looks to preserve, regulate and promote the improvement of the city’s old center. She proclaimed that she personally liked the large images, and feels that the colorful vibrancy of the city landscape is missing something (Schilaro 2007)
brought to my attention the importance of urban scale, the idea of viewing these structures from a distance and the possibilities of what might happen if you could experience them at a closer range. In support of the above line of questioning, it has been suggested that at pedestrian level these structures are completely anonymous and isolated. In the same interview with Fraia it was expressed that while walking through the city, the attention goes to other things and almost never to billboards (Ibid.) In particular the observation that I noticed most was that around the billboard posts at the human eye level space were mainly stickers or small posters. These findings highlight the potential use of this unexplored space with my proposals. In addition to the space beneath the billboards, another space that houses potential utilization is at the intermediate part of the structure, currently inaccessible for human interaction. My observations of these billboards were that through their shear size and scale it would be interesting to explore these spaces by gaining a higher vantage point to the surrounding environment.(fig.19)
Fig.18. São Paulo traffic jam. Oct. 2006
Through another interview with São Paulo designer Julia Fraia, similar concerns were voiced in relation to the missing color from the city. Fraia also continued to explain that she felt that the city signage served as a way of distracting drivers stuck in city traffic (fig.18) (Fraia 2008). These opinions suggested to me the significance of color and attraction within the city landscape. They also
Fig.19 Untitled. (opposite page) 19
Through all of the above conversations and observations of the existing billboard structures in São Paulo I have been inspired to consider the latent possibilities for implementing certain aspects into my proposals, such as framing the ordinary in attempt to highlight modest city features, in addition to addressing issues of color and nature, human scale from eye height level as well as fostering potential human interaction from intermediate billboard heights. Supported and inspired by these findings I have made design proposals for these existing spaces that could address the diverse opinions from locals to varying degrees as well as potentially finding a new type of city entity that could offer a different flavor of São Paulo to its dwellers.
Fig.20. Learning to see.
2.1 Possibilities: Natureza Urbana Today, the billboards of São Paulo are species on the verge of extinction. Species, which intrigue me in a way. The formal aspects of these structures, their basic geometrical composition, their strong presence, solid attachment to the ground and the way the light passes through their bare structure brings to my mind an image almost treelike. But of a very unusual tree, one of a different nature. (fig.21) A man made nature.
These structures now empty, have lost their ‘mediatic’ features and in return underline different issues such as a lack of color in the city and a feeling of absence as mentioned before. These elements that occupy privileged spots in the city, in the eyes of the authorities have now moved into “a spatial and temporal locus (and therefore) considered un-exploitable”. (Bergilez 7) As a designer I think quite the opposite, it is my belief that the ad structures have entered a position where they are open to be explored in a plural sense and reformulated as platforms that enrich urban culture and people’s experience of the city.
3. A moment for action Fig.21. Billboard as a tree. Photomontage by Bijari. 22
Other designers have engaged in works that I consider follow the same line of thought of my proposals. These examples suggest new experiences in the urban environment through questioning archetypal urban infrastructure and its potential utilization in other contexts. The New York based architecture firm LO-TEK has proposed for the Hong Kong Design Institute a set of buildings based on cross sections of elevated motorways.(fig.22) Giving a new opportunity to the standard road structures to be reinserted with a new purpose.
Also quite interesting, is the approach taken by public artist Dan Dubowitz in the district of Ancoats, in Manchester. (fig.23-24) Where he embeds into the structure of the city a series of brass peepholes that look into hidden rooms and reveal through a narrative of discovery details that speak about the industrial past of the town. It’s worth mentioning as well several projects by the Spanish designer Marti Guixé: works like the Car Mirror, the Food Bank and the Urban Post-it are also examples of the great effects that can be achieved through very small interventions that reinterpret ordinary urban objects and create systems that enhance the urban experience.
Fig.22. Proposal for the Hong Kong Design Institute. Lo-tek
Fig.25 Car Mirror. Marti Guixé
Fig.24. Person looking through the brass peephole. The Peeps. by D. Dubowitz. District of Ancoats, UK.
Fig.23. View of hidden steaming room. The Peeps. by D. Dubowitz. District of Ancoats, UK.
Fig.26 Food Bank. Marti Guixé 23
Fig.27 Urban Post-it. Marti Guixé 24
São Paulo has set a milestone in history with the ad ban. The city is caught in the eyes of the world for achieving something that would be unthinkable for other cities. It has set into motion a change that has brought more change. Through my observations these changes have drawn my interest. For instance, color compositions and other type of ingenious responses created by people to cope with the requirements of the law. The owners of shops develop tactics according to their budget, target group and location to still attract people to their stores and gain advantage to the next door competitors without breaking the rules of the new law. This spontaneous creativity, a characteristic of São Paulo’s public space that can be easily noticed, has also inspired my approach to create an urban object that fits right in the the urban space. It is my intention to follow a formal language of industrial elements in steel combined with an organic palette of materials. Ultimately to create an aura around the object that, as Peter Zumthor refers to the architecture that finds its own place, “would appeal to our emotions and minds in various ways”(Thinking Architecture 18)
Fig. 28. New developed front for furniture repair shop. Substitution of old sign for a canopy with flames.
Fig. 30. Partial aerial image of São Paulo. Google Earth
a 45% of green space. To have an idea this 30% of green areas translates into 12 m2 of green per habitant, in the meantime São Paulo offers only 3 m2/hab, standing in a very critical position (Araujo 2008) In other words, he expressed that nature is not a luxury but rather a necessity in the city.
These former ad structures offer a possibility to be transformed into a medium that puts nature ‘back in the frame’ in a place where this is much needed.
Fig. 29. Modified shop sign to fit into the regulation of the law, and also to communicate partially what the shop was before.
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The inner city of São Paulo extends over 1,522.989 sq km with only 3% of green spaces. In a conversation with P. Araujo an expert in biology from the University of São Paulo, he expressed that the percentage of green for a viable city is a minimum of 30%, to give a good example he pointed out Berlin with 26
My aim is to envisage a point of city interaction that includes and celebrates nature and reinterpret some of its characteristics. I seek to produce an atmosphere around these objects, which encourages personal and social interaction with a “redefined sense of belonging” (Bergilez 9) I would like to incorporate other aspects of perception of how one might see or experience the city in a new light. Further to this I feel that my structures could house the potential to create new points of ‘natural’ reference and orientation with the urban city landscape. In addition to this I am interested in implementing ideas about how my design proposals can give a new meaning to the structures as well as what they could offer to the city.
Fig. 31. View of platform at medium height attached to pole of billboard. Study model.
Adding up to the above areas of interest I feel that the success of my design proposals would lie in a collaborative investment between the owners of the existing billboards (São Paulo City Hall) and local flora groups to implement and maintain the specific green areas of the billboards. Through this strategy I would hope that the constant follow-up of the structures would continue in a fruitful and prolonged way. The potential implementation of these types of structures would therefore indicate a communal interest of different parties, which would strengthen the value of this new city entity in many levels.
Fig. 32. View of platform at medium height attached to pole of billboard. Study model. 27
Fig. 33. Sketches of ideas with billboard frames. 28
Immediate context 5-50 mts
City
Range of action
Eye Level 0-5 mts
50-200+mts
Plan view
Growing nature NGO’s UNESP Botanical Research organization Fig. 34-36. Study model & sketches of different working scales of billboard.
Urban Scale
Fig. 36. Billboard as element that gives place to social interaction.
Public Space Intermediate Scale
City Hall + Near Community
Human Scale
Fig. 37. Basic scheme for collaboration between official and civic groups and how the billboard works in many scales. 29
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The controversial implementation of the Clean City Law has opened the door for positive change in the city of São Paulo It is my belief that there is much potential to offer back to the city and the people. How I see this offering to take place is through the utilization of the existing billboard structures to create spaces and places that offer something to the people on an experiential level and that also allows the discovery or re-discovery of the ‘raw beauty’ of the city in a humble, subtle form.
I feel that the redevelopment of the advertising billboard structures can contribute to the reshaping of a new identity for the city. I believe that it could only have positive ramifications for the city and the people to highlight what can be achieved out a situation that was commonly perceived as negative. I hope that this appreciation will actually trigger a whole change of social attitude towards the city. In summary, through my interviews and observations my beliefs are confirmed that the people in São Paulo were blinded to the view of their own city by the saturation of the advertisement billboards. That’s why I think that reusing the billboards to shift the focus of the people back to the city is clearly an important response. I feel that it is also important to redesign something that speaks to the people about who they are and what they could get from their city. Something that can potentially set a paradigm on a global scale, illustrating a deeper reflection of how cities can be experienced in a different way.
The reinterpretation of this the advertisement billboards will hopefully redefine the previous commercial value of this structures into something more modest, ecological and with an increased significance to the people. Through the instigation of a collaboration of efforts both from civic and local initiatives it is my understanding that these implications could suggest an increased communal occupation with how the city can be positively interpreted as an environment with more value.
4. Conclusion 32
Working from Eindhoven, in the Netherlands my investigation commenced by doing literature study. I used many different sources to gather research material, as I had no information on the city of S達o Paulo. I started to collect general data through Internet articles based on the ad ban subject. Also were consulted books like City of Walls (Caldeira) that speak about various aspects of the city of Sao Paulo, in order to have an idea of the of the sociopolitical situation over there..
balanced view of the local circumstances. I took the role of a participant-observer around different areas of the city, starting from the inner center of the city to the outer parts. I recorded sounds and photographed areas of interest, to understand and try to build up an image of the visual contamination that was there before. I took on this task with the purpose of confronting initial ideas with the situation that was around me. In one of my informal conversations I met a collective of artists whose line of work deals with urban issues. They showed interest in my research topic and later on invited me to brainstorm on their studio. Here we discussed my impressions on the city, the ad ban and more grounded ideas on the way this situation could be approached. In this part I learned that in order to go forward with my project my role would be that of a tactician that works with an imposed situation and works his way through to bring groups of interest together in favor of the project.
Still in the Netherlands, I engaged into conversations through e-mails with some residents of the city. Basically looking for general opinions and observations of what was going around them. I wanted to gain insight information on more specific aspects that could provide hints on how and what to look for in a future visit to the city. This insight also allowed me to experiment with study models of the city and the structures, based on my interpretation of the data collected so far. It was an opportunity to speculate and try out ideas to later on be compared to the actual situation and constraints on site.
5. Methodologies
Back in the Netherlands I examined the research material that I brought which lead me to a slightly different direction than from what I started. I continued then my explorations with physical models of the structures whilst developing an overall strategy that could be used further to approach and raise interest from authorities and other parties into taking my proposal to a reality
After that I traveled to S達o Paulo. Where I used the method of semistructured interviews with locals. Some of them were part of my list of contacts from the Netherlands, others I met trough snowballing and networking. These interviews included persons of different social and professional backgrounds, with the objective to obtain a 34
Alexander, Christopher et.al. A Pattern Language. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1977. Araujo, P. Personal interview. 13 Mar. 2008. Ault, Julie. Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Steidldangin, 2006. Banksy, Banksy. Wall and Piece. Random House UK, 2007. Bergilez, Jean-Didier, Vincent Brunetta, and Veronique Patteeuw. Introduction. Artgineering, Territoires Equivoques. By Friedrich Borries. Brussels: Centre International Pour La Ville, L’Architecture Et Le Paysage, 2006. 06-09. Brandolini, Sebastiano, And Domenico Conaci. “São Paulo: Unlimited Identities”. Ottagono : Rivista Trimestrale Di Architettura ArredamentoIndustrial Design Dec. 2007 Jan. 2008: 164-203. Burgoyne, Patrick. “São Paulo: the City That Said No to Advertising.” Bussinesweek 18 June 2007. 12 Jan. 2008 <http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/ content/jun2007/id20070618_505580.htm>. Caldeira, Teresa. City of Walls. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. City2City D’Une Ville a L’Autre. DVD. Lowave/EDV 1394, 2006. Cityscapes. Dir. H C. Gilje. DVD. Lowave/EDV 1394, 2006. Dibb, Paula. Re: Hello São Paulians, I’m José! Email to the author. 10 Dec. 2006. Fraia, Julia. Personal interview. 07 Mar. 2008.
6. Bibliography
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