Can You Tell Me a Secret? is a set of interactive urban furniture created by Estudio Guto Requena as a temporary public piece for Urbe 2016, in Saõ Paulo, Brazil. It follows the studio’s ongoing investigations into the intersection of emotions, memories, design and digital technology.
Can you tell me a secret?
Estudio Guto Requena created a series of temporary urban furniture in Saõ Paulo, investigating the intersection of emotions, memories, design and digital technology.
View Article details
- 20 December 2016
- Saõ Paulo
Echoing the urban masses, it is composed of five wooden benches located in the middle of the Coronel Fernando Prestes Square in the Bom Retiro neighborhood, a stronghold of immigrants in the city of São Paulo. A sixth element in the form of a phone booth contains an old-style telephone and displays the phrase “Can You Tell Me a Secret?”. It invites passers-by to come in and share their stories, which are then recorded and played back randomly inside the furniture via speakers.
The color of the furniture was derived from a process of mixing the flags of the area’s immigrants, like South Korea, Greece, Bolivia, Italy and Haiti. At night the pieces transformed into light sculptures, vibrating and changing colors in warm tones reflecting the volume levels of the various audio recordings as they are played back. It is an invitation to reflect on the invisible and symbolic limits of the private and the public spheres, and seeks to add poetic layers to the experience of everyday urban life.
Can you tell me a secret?
Design: Estudio Guto Requena
Venue: Urbe 2016, Bom Retiro, Saõ Paulo
Year: 2016