Design sightings in Portugal: 5) Graffiti – art or vandalism?

Walking around Lisbon, you see plenty of witty and awesome graffiti pieces (particularly in the Alfama and Santos districts). Done well, it adds a great touch of personality to the city and looks fantastic – just look at advertisers and the art world drooling over the work of guys like Banksy.

However, the debate over whether it is vandalism or art continues, with some evidence that it encourages crime (the “Broken Windows” idea) and of course the fact that much of it, like the tags scrawled in marker pen, looks awful.

The UK’s Department of Transport has some pretty in-depth research here on why and how to reduce graffiti, with case studies of graffiti on trains in New York, and around the UK and Holland. Last year, the Design Against Crime Research Centre held a seminar to better understand it. Someone even came up with a “Graffiti Report Card” to shame the bad.

Is graffiti art or vandalism? That really depends on whether only the best makes it on to the walls.

Art Building

Into the breach steps Art Building, which takes building or renovation sites and has up and coming young artists put colossal up pieces on the scaffolding.

It’s nice to see property developers sponsoring this kind of art, and regardless of the merits of the projects themselves (the first is supposed to be a tapeworm), the city is far better off with than without. There are three projects so far:

Vitrine – Joana Vasconcelos

War/Work – Tiago Batista

Peek to Heaven – Lucas Mila

I love street art, and would love to live in a city where graffiti is part of the culture, and where the good stuff get celebrated. What do you think?

Here’s some more from the streets of Lisbon.