Introduction The talent of graffiti and street artists is evident in most urban contexts. Inevitably, this art movement is the most successful of the late twentieth century as it gains popularity for gaining the attention of the people with effective sociocultural, socio-political and economic messages with many architectural aspects associated with the art form.
1. Evolution of graffiti art into street art
2. What is a sustainable city?
3. Problem Statement This research is about the effect of high-quality graffiti and street art can have on cities, places and communities. Street art is an art form with contemporary graffiti inheritance.
By the 1980s graffiti art had a strong presence in urban communities with a worldwide following. Becoming a worldwide phenomenon that has matured to become part of the urban fabric in cities.
This study aims to investigate the key issues between art form and crime to assert legal activity because high quality graffiti and street art can pose many beneficial factors for an urban environment such as: community togetherness; improved public realm; an effective tool for urban regeneration and gentrification; used to architectural adaptive reuse; and contributing to urban design projects.
As a by-product of an energetic street art ethos, a lively city and vibrant sociocultural characteristics can improve a community and city life.
4. Research Objective ? Street art can unite and gather a collective group of people from the community to collaborate and interact to achieve community and social projects, highlighting a togetherness, healthy sociology and creating a communal and vibrant urban setting.
Surface the benefits and positives of a healthy street art culture can offer a city in contributing to architecture and urban design of an urban landscape. b. Background
1. A brief history
2. The urban setting: Later 20th Century
3. Graffiti art: The beginnings 4. Street art: The beginnings SRR782 Research Methodology _ Assignment 3 Final Research Proposal Charbel Tony Najjar 3 c. Method
1. Qualitative analysis
2. SWOT analysis: Benefits of street art in urban context
3. Integral Theory 4. Case studies: - Melbourne, Australia - Powerhouse Geelong, Australia - Favela Painting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Philly Painting Philadelphia, USA 5. Artist interviews: - Rone, Melbourne Australia - RJ Rushmore, Philadelphia - Ash Keating, Melbourne Australia - BMD, Auckland New Zealand d. Discussions and Outcomes
1. Strong community and sociocultural ties
2. Urban design initiatives and urban activation
3. Architectural adaptive reuse e. Conclusion Street art can be the tool to encourage creativity, ingenuity and inspiration among communities that can positively impact urban landscapes and contribute to the built environment.
1. The future of graffiti art and street art
B. ABSTRACT We have come to understand the importance of the urban environment for graffiti and street art to prosper. Architecture has played a vital role in graffiti and street art in order to display artist’s work as the urban fabric is utilised as a canvas, inevitably creating open-air gallery.
While graffiti and street art can play a role in urban regeneration it is important to clear the illegality of the art form and become open towards an arts culture that has continued to surface after many attempts to obstruct the practice.
This research wishes to investigate street art’s potential to open up the city to bring vibrancy, strong community ideals and encourage a contemporary art form, a successful dialogue between the city, the people, architecture and art. An analysis of these interviews yields graffiti and street artists own perspectives and see the art form mature in an organic manner with a wide practice of skills and techniques.
Case studies are used to discuss the complexities of real life practices in the street art culture. We find high-quality commissioned street art can be the tool that drives beautification, relay social, political and economic messages and community matters to local and visiting public audiences.
This study is part of a wider concern to encourage authorities and communities to collectively collaborate to beautify and improve the urban landscape. SRR782 Research Methodology _ Assignment
3 Final Research Proposal Charbel Tony Najjar
4 C. ANNOTATED LITERATURE REVIEW Austin, J. (2001). Taking the train: How graffiti art became an urban crisis in New York City. New York: Colombia University Press. In this publication, Austin discusses the origins of graffiti in New York City.
Austin states the foundation of graffiti writing was inspired by political mass movements in the 1960s and post-World War II New York is an arena for social criticism and graffiti writing leached on to be considered the most important art movement of the late twentieth century.
The city also attracted commercial success and advertising ruled the urban landscape. Interestingly Austin makes a great comparison to present graffiti writing is undoubtedly connected to advertisements visible in public spaces.
Uncommissioned art: An A-Z of Austrian Graffiti. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. This publication is a beginner’s guide to the potent art form.
Dew delves into the history and evolution of Australian graffiti and the many forms of graffiti and street art. Dew gives background information and an explanation of terminology used in in the sub-culture.
The author further explains how graffiti is the foundation for street art. With an amazing collection of photographs Dew uses shows how social and political references are included in art pieces to stimulate change and the art form donates an organic character to the urban environment amid artists using the urban fabric as a medium.
It seems from the article (and artist interviews) that Melbourne is more supportive of street art in Australia due to its arts culture. Dew uses Melbourne as a fine example regarding the city’s morphology and inner city zones (urban fabric, arts culture, young people, galleries and studios) to support the culture and the evolution of the art form in Australia.
I gathered that the author suggests a healthy graffiti culture is a sign of the city supporting its youth and the arts. Uncommissioned Art presents the discussion of art, design, sociology, architecture and urban planning showing how graffiti and street art interact with many disciplines.
Therefore, this source is very useful for my research as it supports the initial stages of my research and is valuable in understanding terminology and the history and evolution of graffiti and street art in Australia. SRR782 Research Methodology _ Assignment 3 Final Research Proposal Charbel Tony Najjar 5 Leventis, P. (2013). Walls of crisis: Street art and urban fabric in central Athens 2000-2012.
Architectural Histories, 1 (1), 1-10. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ah.ar This study investigated the rise of commissioned graffiti and street art in Athens, Greece and its engagement with architecture.
Leventis explains the years of economic drive that Greece experienced leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games and how this is closely linked to the rise of street art in Greece. Interestingly as the country’s capital received much of the focus, the city established governmental and community programs and initiatives to publicly sustain street art in an urban setting. This is interesting because this art flirts with art form and crime the author presents a twelve-year focus of street art in Athens.
Street art can play a role in urban regeneration where communities (such as Pysrri and Gazi neighbourhoods) and various buildings types are brought to life with positive images and social and political intentions are evident in artworks to instantly deliver their work’s meaning.
The research is engaging as it is inclusive of many references of several artist profiles throughout the research it’s fascinating to acknowledge many artists are from a diverse backgrounds and give insight to their methods and messages as they express social, economic and political issues.
Leventis further establishes many positive aspects of high quality street art can offer a city; being new life, cultural and lively vibrancy, social qualities and softening of the built environment. Useful information about the synergy of government and street art. Rabine L. W. (2014). “These walls belong to everybody”
The graffiti art movement in Dakar. African Studies Quarterly, 14 (3), 89-112. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c9adf186-21fd-4a3e-b812-0468a5d26cd3%40sessionmgr198&vid=4&hid=113 Rabine highlights the importance of community in street art.
With a large input of from the community, graffiti and street art can be highly motivating for the youth, as some youth are poor and/or troubled. This article begins on how graffiti in Dakar has never been illegal in Senegal but considered an art form that can draw many positives and outcomes from the input of the community.
The author details how street art can encourage and spur creativity, inspiration and technical ingenuity. Officials, businessmen and neighbourhood people are supportive of the arts culture seeing graffiti to cleanse and beautify impoverished spaces in an urban context. This is achieved by the collaboration of Senegalese artists of different generations working as a collective group, where organise murals to paint a message of inspiration and positivity for the community.
Rabine asserts how graffiti art is linked to improving one’s character via understanding artist’s ethos towards the art form with various interviews of artists who commonly share and believe that motivation, inspiration and expression are characteristics of high quality art works. The author indicates how a less-developed nations can seek constructive uses from the arts culture to prosper a healthy society.
DIAGRAM The diagram above displays two disciplines; architecture and street art. Architecture is related and responds to the built environment while street art is related to the arts culture and also responds to the built environment.
The built environment includes the urban landscape consistent of urban design (morphology and typology), gives the opportunity to become a canvas for artists. A vibrant and lively city can benefit from street art as it is displayed and applied to the urban fabric of a city to encourage an arts culture and public good.
Further, the discussion section of the graphic diagram is inclusive of methodologies that will be undertaken to investigate and analyse information and data to assist and sustain my research in street art and architecture.
The research type is a qualitative research kind where such methodologies deal with sociological, cultural, artistic and political aspects in urban life. This consists of qualitative research analysis, case studies, artist interviews, SWOT analysis and personal street art research in person and via internet sources.
The outcomes of my research deal tangible (architecture) and non-tangible (street art) qualities in urban contexts. Tangible values in an urban setting can be encourage urban regeneration, urban gentrification and improving public spaces in cities.
Whereas, non-tangible qualities can promote a healthy and vibrant city through positives communication via artist approaches to display constructive social, political and political messages. Therefore the tangible city acts as a forum for expression and a gallery. SRR782 Research Methodology _ Assignment 3 Final Research Proposal Charbel Tony Najjar 9 E. HOW WILL YOU SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM?
In order to reach these objectives, a qualitative analysis of understanding the culture and understanding its strong community ties, SWOT analysis, Integral Theory by Ken Wilber, case studies and artist interviews.
I believe is sufficient research tools and methods to accurately investigate the research topic at hand, street art and architecture. A SWOT Analysis would be conducted during the early stages of the research to understand and evaluate the scope of the topic in terms strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Ken Wilber’s integral theory is a comprehensive study that can collect information and material could be expressed in a non-numerical manner (quantitative) and subjective manner (qualitative).
Case studies will be a vital research method through my investigation on street art and architecture. Case studies will be resourceful to recognise and fathom reality with the art form in order to present precedents and apply depth to my research. I will carry out the case studies via observation of the art form throughout the research to keep updated in the street art domain via personal viewing of street art and people in an urban setting, internet websites and social media local and abroad.
Artist interviews will gather insightful information to my research and I think it may create the fundamental components to fully understand the art form and the culture with authentic perspective.
