Digital Azulejos (Data Visualization, 3D Printing)

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Part of the board of final tiles

This project aims to extend the Portuguese tradition of patterned tiles (azulejos) with digital technology. Made using data visualization, 3D design, and 3D printing, the tiles show the number of Portuguese-speakers on each continent through the symbolism of land, water, and ripples.

Project Trailer

Architectural visualization

The azulejo is an ornamental art form of Portugal and Spain, originating from the Arabic world. While the tradition has abandoned the strictly geometrical patterns of Islamic art, the square grid layout and the idea of horror vacui, i.e. fear of empty spaces, remain the definitive features of this medium.

Creative Journal

Detail of the finished grid of azulejos

The underlying pattern of the ripples

Each continent is symbolized by a cube and each ripple signifies a million Portuguese-speakers on the given continent. Each cube is located at the city with the most Portuguese-speakers on each continent. Lastly, the horizontal rhythm of the piece reflects the number of Portuguese-speakers per continent around the 17-18th centuries. The above graphic shows the pattern of the ripples.

Architectural visualization

Usually experienced passing by, azulejos create meaning in the background of our lives. As a tactile landscape, its patterns are primarily tactile and only secondarily visual. Ideally installed in a busy public space in Portuguese-speaking city, people would engage with a central phenomenon of their culture through the rhythm and the texture of the surface of the piece.