Pokras Lampas – Kazan Rooftop Calligraphy

Long time no Pokras. It’s been a while since our last encounter, and I am glad to cover his new giant piece again.

Pokras Lampas writes cities into existence — this time, in two languages at once.

The calligraphy artist has spent years scaling up letterforms to architectural proportions, but the rooftop of Barkli DAN Residence demanded something more than spectacle. Here, Russian and Tatar interweave across 177 square metres — three concepts, six words, two languages — each stroke a negotiation between heritage and horizon.

Three months of preparation, 14 days of painting. A 15-metre circle of contemporary Cyrillic calligraphy, read best from above — a message written for the sky, or perhaps for the city looking back at itself.