The Google Cultural Institute created the Street Art Project to allow users to explore an ongoing collection of art from the streets.

An Innovative Use of Google Maps

The Street Art Project is yet another Google design project that uses the tool set offered by Google Maps to create something interesting and unique. The site directs visitors to various collections of street art that can be found on walls throughout the globe. It’s an awesome ode to the transient art form, as it allows anyone to view street art in countries throughout the globe, even if that art may soon disappear. The site displays a traditional Google Maps view of the world, with the ability to click on various red dots that indicate locations where cool street art can be seen. If you click on a particular location — Vienna, Austria, for instance — you can get an up-close view of a particular piece of art as well as the artist’s name and the ability to view the art from various perspectives. 

An Online Exhibition that’s Always Changing

The Street Art Project also hosts four interactive tours of street art exhibitions, using Google Street View technology to simulate the experience of walking around and observing the art that has been applied to the walls of various structures. This portion of the site showcases street art in London, Paris, Buenos Aires and Tokyo. The latter’s design in a strange tunnel is particularly interesting. The site also integrates with YouTube and Google Hangouts to display videos of artists telling their stories and describing their work. There are tons of other features that allow visitors to get up-close with street art that could otherwise only be found in specific locations throughout the globe (such as NYC’s now-defunct 5 Pointz as well as some Banksy spots), making this one of the best uses of Google Maps technology I’ve seen.