Tucson was part of Mexico before 1854. Tucson’s Barrio Historico is a district near downtown Tucson with about 20 blocks of Sonoran adobe architecture in bright colors. But sadly, it seems not many people, even some residents in Tucson, are aware of this beautiful neighborhood.
It is sad that the area survived not because of an awareness of historic preservation, but because it has long been forgotten and neglected. I went to the area several times and read a lot of documentations about this area but they concerned about the preservation of the area mostly from either architectural or historical perspective. I hope I could contribute to the endeavor from a visual communication and storytelling perspective.
I designed this square symbol to represent the color of each building, their eaves, windows (frame), doors (frame) as well as the walls. I use these symbols to illustrate 6 crossroads in the center of this area. They are actually becoming visual representations of the area in color.
The final book shows my interpretation of the area. It is a photo collection of a small piece of that area as well as a color-coded informational documentation of the region featuring its unique colorful Sonoran adobe architectures.
The book documents the buildings in Barrio Historico district and uses their color as an hint. This book could act not only as a documentation but also a visual story of the area encouraging people to explore and preserve the neighborhood.
