Renowned company Pantone, which specializes in making color swatches, recently collaborated with designers and art directors from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to transform the streets of Seoul, South Korea. The idea is simple: take advantage of the monsoon season in the Asian peninsula to set up a street art project in interaction with the rain. And you will see that the final rendering is absolutely crazy.
To set up what was dubbed “Project Monsoon,” the creative team began by painting the dark roads of Seoul with hydrochromic paint. The latter has unique characteristics that allow it to change from transparency to opacity when wet. The goal? Make colorful works inspired by South Korean culture appear when the rain falls. East Asian customs often emphasize the flow of rivers and the life that thrives in them, which is exactly what the designers wanted to share through their public artwork.
As you will have understood, these huge works of street art , made on the asphalt, are revealed as soon as the first droplets of water come into contact with the ground. Passers-by can then enjoy a surprising and, to say the least, unexpected spectacle. This is an original way to brighten up the gray and often sad environment of large cities, especially when the weather is not good.
So, in the midst of a gloomy storm, passers-by have something to smile about when an underwater world full of multicolored fish and turtles appears before their eyes. And since it can rain for up to three weeks non-stop during the monsoon season, Seoul residents will have one positive thing in mind when stepping out onto the streets with their umbrellas. Now, we ask ourselves a question: when will the same concept be in your country?
