The Rising Trend of Street Painting [Public Art for Safety + Beautification]

3D Crosswalks are Sweeping the Globe

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Here's a fascinating project that was installed in Ísafjörður, Iceland. (Below). The small fishing town sought creative solutions to slow down excessive car traffic. The 3D crosswalk illusion was carried out by the Icelandic environmental commissioner Ralf Trylla after he was inspired by a similar project in India. The zebra stripes are painted from a perspective designed to grab the attention of vehicles (as well as those crossing the road).

The original 3D installation that Trylla references was installed in New Delhi, India and has been active for over a year now. New Delhi Municipal Council’s (NDMC) and Delhi Traffic Police noted that the installation was incredibly effective in slowing down vehicular traffic, from 50 km per hour down to 30.

“The new 3D zebra crossing has become a sight of amusement for commuters. Cars inevitably slow down and there is also excitement among pedestrians to use it,” said a senior traffic official. (Source)

There's more going on in New Zealand as well. Here's a fun video of a 3D pedestrian crossings designed by Jenny McCracken, for the city of Dunedin. All of these paintings were done in accordance with local and national zoning laws. So perhaps there's a creative future to be found by drawing within these lines? (Source)

Roadways Should be Canvases!

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Art murals are typical in most cities. These colorful vertical facades add to the flare and flavor of the community they are surrounded by. But there's another canvas waiting to be tapped into. Roadways are largely blank and waiting to be filled in. Large black asphalt runways look like sharpie markers jaggedly running through city blocks. Why can't we begin to paint them and make them less dull?

This is especially true as driving becomes more and more automated. If a driverless future is coming, that would open up a lot of new territory for public art programs. What do you think Steemit?

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