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."

January 23, 2013, 12pm PST | 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.

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Cartographic Grounds: Projecting the Landscape Imaginary

Published on Thursday, January 17, 2013 in Places Journal