afrouz razavi design studio

Travel between languages

This project aimed to integrate literature and poetry into public space, in multiple languages, to encourage dialogue between cultures.

Implemented across four Swiss cities, the interventions were installed on a variety of urban surfaces, including building façades, benches, walls, and school columns. Handwritten texts interacted with the architecture, functions, and context of each location, bringing the richness of poetry and literature into everyday public life.

Although temporary, these installations sought to enrich the urban experience through an artistic, sensitive, and cultural approach.

Team: Ruedi Baur, Karelle Ménine, Anouck Fenech, Afrouz Razavi, Eddy Terki, Danielle Rosales. In collaboration with Intégral Ruedi Baur and Civic-City, 2016-2017. Photo credits: © Afrouz Razavi design studio and © Afrouz Razavi.

  • Wayfinding and public spaces
  • Social design and community design
Columns with black and yellow lettering.
Person beside a typographic column.
Person on scaffolding beside a column.
Overview of the columns in the courtyard.
Column with lettering in several languages.
Yellow columns at a building entrance.
Children around the yellow columns.
View of the covered courtyard and columns.
Children in the courtyard beside the columns.
Detail of lettering on a yellow column.
Children beside a typographic column.
Group of children beside a column.
Façade and typographic columns.
Person with a bicycle beside a wall with lettering.
Children in front of a map drawn on a wall.
People in front of lettering on a wall.
Person facing wall lettering.
Person in front of a drawn map.
Two people beside a wall map.
Detail of the map drawn on the wall.
Drawn map and lettering on a wall.
Person in front of the map and lettering.
Red bench with black lettering.
Three people beside a red bench.
Person sitting on a red bench.
Detail of black lettering on the bench.
Red benches along a tree-lined path.
Red bench beside a path.
Overhead view of the bench and its lettering.
Red bench in front of a railway.
Detail of the bench and multilingual lettering.
Person sitting on a bench with lettering.

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