The Map Room

Andy Woodruff announces a new project from Axis Maps: typographic maps — “that is, maps made entirely of typography.” Map features are rendered in repeating lines of type (see example above).

Nearly every line of text in these maps was laid out manually. And after that, nearly every line was edited manually to create effects such as the appearance of woven streets. It was all done in Illustrator, beginning with images from OpenStreetMap. We traced streets, filled in areas like water and parks, and then revisited every detail. In this process I think we’ve learned a few things that will help us generate maps of some other cities without taking two years to do it.

Two maps for Boston and one for Chicago so far, prints of which they’re selling. Via Geoparadigm.

Here’s a collection of old Boston transit maps, collected from the Net and the Massachusetts State Transportation Library by Andrew Lynch. Via Cartogrammar.

Boston’s MBTA is upgrading the maps in its stations; some of the neighbourhood maps haven’t been upgraded in 40 years. The system maps show services that will not be operational for another month, but that’s nothing compared to the trouble with Toronto’s station maps. The Toronto Transit Commission has gotten into trouble for the neighbourhood maps in its stations, thanks to several embarrassing typos and omissions; the TTC says that corrected maps will be in place by the end of October. Via All Points Blog.

At the Boston Public Library’s Copley Square through June, Boston and Beyond, a collection of bird’s-eye-view maps of Boston and New England from the second half of the 19th century.

At Harvard University’s Pusey Library until April 1, Henry F. Walling and the Elevation of American Mapmaking. Walling (1825-1888) “was responsible for at least 117 large-scale maps of American towns and counties, nearly 20 state maps and atlases, substantial contributions to the work of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey, and important academic publications.” Also at the Pusey Library: Ukraine under Western Eyes: European Maps of Ukraine from the Renaissance to the 20th Century through May 5; The Lands of the Sophi: Iran in Early Modern European Maps (1550-1700) until August 23; and a permanent display of two Mercator globes. And at the Cabot Science Library until May 23, From Soundings to Sidescan Sonar: Mapping the Ocean Floor.

All free admission. As if Chicago should have all the fun. Via MAPS-L.

If you’ve got an iPod with a colour screen, you can put subway maps on it. It’s a simple matter to put digital images on an iPod; where maps are concerned, though, it’s a challenge to make sure they’re legible on an iPod’s 220×176 screen. Available so far: Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco and Washington, with more promised. Via Jason.

Noah Vawter’s project for a class at MIT was to map the bumpiness of Cambridge streets. Via MAKE: Blog….  •  Continue reading this entry.

The Boston Phoenix has an interview with the manager of the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Office of Digital Cartography and GIS, Carolyn Bennett; the discussion ranges from GIS in general, to the nature of the Office’s work, to one of their…  •  Continue reading this entry.