"Graffiti" as urban design?

(Left to right: Street art Gertrude Street, Hosier Lane, Rone's Jane Doe in Fitzroy)


I pose the question... Is graffiti (and I mean the good quality stuff predominantly) a form of art? The question has been asked before and discussed to death, I know. I pose a further question to this.. Can graffiti be a legitmate form of urban design?


Melbourne, Australia (where I live) sits at the centre of the street art universe. We seem to be one of the most active and world-reknown cities when it comes to the sub-culture of various forms of art. Now, graffiti has always been perceived as a problem in this city until about 10 years ago when a few graphic designers/artists began posting "artistic" graffiti. That is, not just tagging, but actual imagery. Usually containing political or social undertones, this new art form has become known to us as street art and has had similar explosive introductions in other cities around the world. The global sub-culture... either you love it or hate it. But I suppose what I really want to approach here is to what extent is this form of urban art contributing to urban design. That is, to the improvement of the public realm.

I was recently driving down Brunswick Street (to those who know Melbourne will know it is no doubt the centre of sub-culture in Melbourne) in Fitzroy, observing the sheer amount of "urban paint" as I like to call it. It was quite incredible. There were examples of works, both stencil and paste-up stencils that were plastered quite liberally across shopfronts and otherwise blank walls. Some of these works were quite large, often over 2 metres tall. One wonders how long it took to create them. But the amazing thing about it is that it is fully accepted and embraced by the majority of the community, yet outlawed by the municipal Council.

The very nature of the artform denotes that after a period of time, a build up of different artists' work occurs in any on spot due to artists (often quite imaginatively) painting over someone elses work. This can create several outcomes, either a mish-mash of colour and form or a rich composition that reflects a period in time. Often artists create "collabs" (as observed in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, where the Everfresh studio gang reign supreme) that actually bring life to under-utlised buildings or blank walls. For me, as an urban designer, I can see why politicians dislike this so-called graffiti. They fear it, it carries a stigma of nasty subculture youths vandalising our cities.

Maybe it's a generational thing, I don't know. I think it adds value, and I think it adds another layer of texture to an evolving (yes people... evolving!) city. The beauty of it is, these artists are passionate about the city in which they live. They are just as passionate, and involved as I am, as a professional working the field. So why not embrace it? And see where it takes us in terms of community building, and place-making. After all, Melbourne is rapidly being known for its street art with tourists flocking to experience and witness it. When I talk about places like Hosier Lane, Brunswick Street, Gertrude Street, Hardware Lane... Melbournites know them as places to view and experience street art.

There seems to be a growing gap between the city (and it's inhabitants) and the political mechanisms that govern it. Very little understanding of what the place really is, and really means to people. No wonder it's such an honorous, drawn out process when it comes to determining the "sense of place" within cities. Melbourne has one solution to the problem staring it right in the eye, and I for one hope, they embrace it fully so that it is not another lost artform. Instead of ignorantly maligning it and falsely passing it off as "vandalism".

u

Image refs:
www.daylife.com
www.wikipedia.org