Homeless City Guide
Emily Read (British, born 1982)
and Chen Hsu (Taiwanese, born 1982)
2007
Illustrator software
To deliver vital information more
effectively to the urban homeless—
a decentralized population with little
access to mobile technology—designers
Emily Read and Chen Hsu revived the
centuries-old language of the hobo
code. The homeless can use this series
of simple symbols to communicate
with each other about safety, shelter,
and free food by inscribing them with
chalk on sidewalks, buildings, and other
surfaces. The code, reproduced in
each issue ofthe Pavement, a London-based
magazine for the homeless,
forms a common language that is both
inconspicuous and highly directed.
Read calls the language “a means of
exposing the hidden potentials of the
city and making these more accessible
to the homeless” and “a new, informal
avenue of communication,” one that
also makes reference to the very
roots of language and civilization.
Category: City
Tags: Communications / Liminal Spaces / Networks / Open Source
