Greater Saint Louis

The latest issue of Construction Specifier (January 2025) has a segment on finding exterior based coatings and applications that help prevent graffiti art from staying on a building's facade. The Construction Specifier

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The Construction Specifier News, products and guidance from experts in architecture, specifications and engineering. View this on Construction Specifier >

Specifically in St. Louis, we've been plagued downtown with long-standing, some historically significant, buildings that are eroded in street art! While its a form of expression and welcome in appropriate settings, having a canvas sit in the MIDDLE of downtown deters potential residents and perpetuates a culture of crime and non-caring about its citizens.

Does anyone fear about designing buildings that are subject to defacing, particularly amongst areas where demographics show people are more prone to graffiti on these public (and decorated) institutions?

Graffiti is getting larger, complaints rising. Paint Louis says it's 'villainized'

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Graffiti is getting larger, complaints rising. Paint Louis says it's 'villainized' St. Louis has seen increased graffiti complaints in recent years. A perceived surge in vandalism, coinciding with the annual art festival Paint Louis, has put festival organizers on the defense. View this on STLtoday.com >

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David Charles CSI
Business Development Executive
Built Solutions, LLC
Saint Louis MO-
314-584-8276
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I totally agree that graffiti is a pernicious blight on our city. It can be incredibly beautiful, but even the best "art" is beyond heinous when sprayed on inappropriate surfaces, which is nearly all surfaces. I remember a friend telling me that they'd gotten into tagging and I lost it. Their excuse was that they only did it on surfaces that needed maintenance, and he did it as a way of calling attention to the need. I explained that the City knows about the need, but lacks the resources and now we'll have to see his tag along with the degrading surface until they can finally get around to it, IF they ever can. So, "thank you very much for your services, but they're not wanted". For the rest, I consider the equivalent of peeing on a building and calling it "art" or "freedom of speech". The damage far exceeds the property degradation.

Sadly, I think a monochromatic surface that cleans easily is just a fantastic and attractive canvas. Better than a non-cleanable surface I guess.

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Derek Maschek CSI
Director of Design
Keeley Construction
St. Louis MO
314-262-2261
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