What makes a city different from another city? What makes it recognizable? And unique? Is it its skyline? Its monuments? Its fame? For me, each city has its own fingerprint, which can be found not in its shape, nor in its recommended destinations, or in its famous buildings, but in its inner structure. Barcelona’s Eixample is a net of straight streets, equally distanced. Lisbon’s Baixa and Bairro Alto are a maze of cobblestone streets. Amsterdam has its narrow houses rowed by the canals. On any Greek island, there’s always this incredible whiteness of the houses, and the irregular pavement of the streets, made of large stones and with the gap between them painted in white.
The discrete geometries and repetitive details are actually the ones who give to a place its unique personality.
São Miguel, Where Each Street Has Its Own Pattern
The map of São Miguel island could be easily drawn as a set of patterns which cover the main streets and plazas. Read more.
Lisbon and the 17 Ways to Symmetry
Opposites may attract in infinite ways, symmetry though can only be achieved in 17 ways. And this exact number was proved by Evgraf Fedorov in 1891. Read more.
Looking up Barcelona
Four stops to see the city from new angles. Read more.
A Way to Lagos
It is really amazing how Portuguese little towns, with their traditional small white houses and their nice, cozy, old-school vibes, can also be the scene of some stunning optical designs. Read more.
Travelling in Black and White. 4 Cities and their Patterns
Simple lines, squares, circles, triangles. Abstract graphics. Read more.
Travel in Patterns 