graphic design to guerrilla design
After watching De Sousa’s “Guerrilla
Architect” and how impressive it was that designers are able to organize and
come together to achieve a common goal for the public, it makes me wonder of
all the times when designers do the opposite; they don’t plan on their work
creating such an impact for the public.
The notion of “the right
of the city” goes far beyond the regular access and the use of urban space by
everyone. Because everything we design impacts public life, the transformation gets
projected and in ways that we don’t initially perceive. One such event is the Olympic
Games of 1968, “Los Juegos de la Paz” (“The Games of Peace”).
Without boring you with
too much historical context, the 1968 Olympic Games were to be held in Mexico
City. During this time, Mexico had undergone rapid urbanization making its
capital an enormous metropolis. With the Games drawing near, the Olympic
organizers needed to create a visual identity to tie together everything that
was going on during the Games. So they held an international competition to
find a designer who would create a logo and graphic design campaign for the Games.
The competition was eventually
won by a young Lance Myman and Peter Murdoch. The iconic logo designed for the “Games
of Peace “ was rather ironic because of other events that were going on in Mexico
at the time. The logo was the outline of a dove, completely contrasting the political
turmoil happening within the city. A movement protesting the government
political party at the time was catering to the wealthy had been taken to the
streets by students and just ten days before the Olympics were to take place,
thousands of students gathered at Tlatelolco square to peacefully protest the
imprisonment of the people in previous protests. Shots openly rang out on the students,
and to this day the body count has never been verified.
To tie back on how design
impacts public life, Wyman had said he found himself in a very difficult
position to be working for the Olympics, an event that is supposed to bring
people together and showcase the best a country has to offer, but ultimately he
didn’t need to choose between the government and the protesters because his designs
found a way to serve both sides.
Students began imitating
Wyman’s images to create anti-government posters. They went around the
city spraying a small burst of bright red paint over the doves in all the shop
windows, to make it look like the dove had been shot. They were playing
with the propaganda of the Olympics and hinting at a darker political reality.
For some reason, when discussing
how architecture and politics share a common ground, this event immediately came
to mind. Even though it is not inherently “architecture” or architects designing
illegally for the good of the public, I feel like it still shows how design can
be integrated within the “social and contextual tissues” of a city. Our designs tend to impact people in more ways than we think.
Because my blog post doesn’t
do it justice, if you want a more interesting and in-depth version of the event,
the Radio Diaries podcast has an excellent episode on it. You should check it
out. I highly recommend.
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