Haikus de Barrio

Overview

Haikus de Barrio captures the fleeting poetry of urban life, transforming daily observations into haikus—short verses that celebrate sound, smell, rhythm, and presence. Conceived in Mexico City’s Colonia Cuauhtémoc, the project unfolds as a dialogue between language and city, where words become a way to see and feel the familiar anew.

Context

Rather than designing objects or spaces, this project designs attention. It romanticizes the mundane: the steam rising from a food stall, the violet shade of jacarandas, the hum of distant traffic. Each haiku is a fragment of the city, reframed as a tender gesture.

Two Iterations

Series  One: Everyday Life – A collection of haikus drawn from ethnographic walks, capturing sensory fragments of the neighborhood’s daily pulse.

Series  Two: Women’s Voices – A second series amplifying women’s experiences in the city, launched during International Women’s Day to reclaim their presence within the urban narrative.

Outcome

Presented as printed postcards and street interventions, Haikus de Barrio becomes both archive and offering: a set of delicate urban cartographies inviting reflection on how identity is woven through the choreography of everyday life.