is Bologna is the winning logo of Bologna City Branding competition.

is Bologna can be considered the first co-generative logo of a city: the graphic project winner of the international competition, is open and dynamic and gives people an opportunity to contribute to the construction of the visual identity of the city of Bologna.

The project aims to a visual translation of the endless perceptions of the city – which constitute what is Bologna – turning them into a system of writing that replaces the graphemes of the alphabet with abstract characterising signs.
Signs are freely inspired at some figurative archetypes of the Bologna and its metropolitan area: the historic city walls, the brick mosaic of the Santo Stefano Basilica, the cross in the city’s heraldic gonfalon, and the Rocchetta Mattei decorations. With these forms/letters it is thus possible “to write” any concept referable to the city, including every physical or abstract, general or personal characteristic, that one wishes to associate with Bologna.
The word that one decides to write, with its specific graphic representation, is always accompanied by the payoff is Bologna, which strengthens the city identity traits.

Bologna’s new system of writing allows anyone to make up his or her own symbol and to recount the manifold narrative aspects linked to the city.
The process of opening up to the shared construction of Bologna’s identity, based on elements in the classical tradition, is concretized through the use of the new technologies: a public online platform allows citizens, institutions, tourists and visitors to be an active part of the process, offering their own point of view for the construction of a shared narration of the city.
The patrimony of signs created will thus become a more and more faithful archive of the perception of Bologna, giving form to the visual identity of the city.
The web platform is available at the address www.ebologna.it

The logo "is Bologna" is widely described in "is Bologna. City Branding Project", the second number of the Urban Center Bologna editorial series I Quaderni (available both in italian and english version).

Others documents (available in italian language): 

> Video
> Press release
> Descriptive notes
> Presentation

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