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Master´s Thesis 2020 Urban Challenges

Josefin Jönsson

Graffiti is arguably the most relevant art form of our time, yet it is attacked, destroyed, and routinely commodified in the service of gentrification

– Joag Sidd

Target group

Sub-cultures are created when the urban fabric become illegible for the inhabitants. Graffiti was created in the misinterpreted urban forms of modernist ideals which lead to a disconnection between building and people.

Graffiti speaks about the citizen’s autonomy in the urban environment. The places hit, are redefining the public sphere and what is considered public. By pushing the concept of what is public space, the sub-culture shifts the perception of what it could be. When locating graffiti, you will find them at the periphery and in discarded places no longer in use for the city. Reading and navigating space is a vital skill for anyone who wants to be prolific in the sub-culture community. Using spatial agency and basic services, the new community reads the urban form to locate a place which is at the periphery of the wider society.

Graffiti writers have been going to Bergsjön (east of Gothenburg) since the 80s. The area compromise of a difficult terrain making spots more attractive for tags and pieces combined with cover from prying eyes.
The site is located in Östra Bergsjön, next to Rymdtorget. The foundation wall of an empty parking garage was quickly turned into a Fame for the writers in Gothenburg due to the proximity to amenities and privacy that the location offer.