How Has 'Mapping' Changed How We Communicate Ideas About Buildings and Landscapes?

Cartographic Grounds, a recent exhibition at the Harvard Graduate School of Design — now online at Places — seeks to "reconcile the precision and instrumentality of the plan with the geographic and territorial scope of the map."

1 minute read

January 23, 2013, 12:00 PM PST

By Places Journal


"The ascendance of 'mapping' and data visualization in design culture has changed the way architects, landscape architects and urban designers communicate ideas about buildings and landscapes, often privileging abstract forces and flows over the material conditions of the site," writes curator Jill Desimini. "We have an even greater challenge now, as our drawings are required to be interactive, to make sense of big data, and to describe increasingly complex systems."

"As design extends its purview to cartography, it is time once again to look closely at maps and plans, to immerse ourselves in their beauty but also to uncover their projective potential."

Desimini explores a range of cartographic practices, from a 13th-century view of the British Isles to contemporary data visualization.

Thursday, January 17, 2013 in Places Journal

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