280 pages
Text(s) by François Chastanet & Steven Heller
26 x 19.7 cm 
Language: English
Hardcover 
Publisher: 

XG press
2007

The appropriation of the city of Sao Paulo by the pichação, a typical Brazilian tagging form, is the subject of François Chastanet’s research published in a book. The French designer uses an extensive photographic documentation to reveal relations between architecture and pichação. The rhythmical presence of windows, the molding of friezes and frames and the orthogonality of ceramic coatings are architectural elements that serve as a landmark for tagged letters. While the letter adopts the scale of the façade, the pixo increases to the scale of the city. As shown in the schematic diagrams, such scale also relates to the body of the tagger. Thus, the pixo can be understood not only as a signature, but also as a way to give form to an action based on the individual.