MAP:
A medium
By appropriating reality and its complex
layers
By imposing oder.
1. To express our inquisitive nature and
harness knowledge on a geographical level
2. To make sense of physical world
Early maps: intricate constructs as unique
works of art spoke of social hierarchies
-
Medieval maps: used as an
analogy for the relationship between good and evil, giving life lessons,:
merging human knowledge, myth, and spirituality in a
surreal landscape of precautionary tales for the afterlife
-
During the Age of Discovery：the Old and
New Worlds
Cultural cross-pollination(传播文化) and unrepentant（无悔悟的）exploitation
and the enlightenment of the brutes
Affirmation of power, national pride
-
Industrial Revolution (Fashion
and art capitals and major breakthroughs in printing technology): maps became
more diverse and accessible
-
20th Century to
digital worlds: exciting potentials and unavoidable tensions, near frontiers
appearing
Layers of meanings
1. political propaganda maps or a dangerous
mix of the two:
synthesizing physical, geopolitical,
socioeconomic and other domains in a gesamtkunstwerk
2. Kitsch tourist guides. Basic utilitarian
purposes as administrative tools and references for mobility and navigation
e.g. Urban crime maps
Population shifts visualized to aid the design of cities and the
politics of urban planning.
3. Catalogue of the pleasures and horrors
of mankind.
E,g, Catastrophe and death are codified in
maps of earthquake zones, tornado paths, or oil spills.
Cartographies of
hedonism: the best shops the top restaurant and so on.
Advertisement;
treasure maps
4. Both records change and glimpses into
the future
5. To grasp greater concepts, detect
patterns, prognosticate and so on
Design:
A selection of the elements to be included:
adjustment, simplification or generalization
How to correspond level of detail within
the constraints
Technicalities of the transformation from
three-dimensionality to a 2-d projection.
Elements:
Text and icons based on semiological
conventions
Color and patterns used to establish
further hierarchies as more systems come into play.
The bias of maps:
”There is no view from nowhere for even the
most scrupulously detached observer
A maps is to subject the truth to personal
preconceptions and ideologies.
！ so don’t be ashamed to disregard dogma, explore new cartographic
languages, embrace ambiguity, make the maps cariactural, abstract or
mysterious.
Maps today:
Maps is becoming homogeneous, victims of
generic uniformity.
Increasingly devalued as an influential
visual tool
But maps could also be sophisticated
geo-tools befitting a fast-paced, multi-demensional, networked world:
Playful experimentation and provocation to
translate the solemnity of data into intriguing cartographies and storytelling;
an antidote to cartographic monotony and the modern-day obsession for accuracy.
By documenting the maps, their ephemeral
temperament is shed to reveal a lasting message at its core. It’s about
re-humanizing the process of understanding our surroundings and ourselves.
The perspectives used to depict landmarks
Unique materials and forms
Maps as a historical record
