The main focus for my MA project at the London College of Communication was centered around the persuasive graphic technique of mapping. I think what intrigued me most was that we all perceive maps as a an exact representation of the real world. We think it's a fact. But it's only design, design commissioned by a body of people to persuade an audience to see and use the world around them in a specific way.
Of course the London AZ was my biggest obsession at the time and Phyllis Pearsall (the creator of the guide) was a great source of inspiration. Pearsall made the AZ by walking the streets of London every morning and recorded the distances and the names... one by one (talk about having patience!) So I decided to start walking and recording...walking and recording. Some interesting things happened!
My first attempt was to walk in a circle along the main roads around Green Park and St James's Park and take photo's in a circular motion to create panoramas. Wish I had the 360 Panorama app for iPhone in those days! :(
Circles of London
My next walk was from the Michelin Building to Nelson's Column via the Piccadilly Line. This time I took photo's with the lens facing directly upwards and directly downwards at specific intervals.
Up & Down
I then turned my focus to other people's experiences and how this affects the mental image they have of a place.
My LDN recorded the spaces of individuals in London. Different people were asked to outline the areas familiar to them and white out the remaining space. Look at the geographic space that is London to different people.
The next test explored a collection of random experiences that people had around the city. I mapped them around the river to see if there would be loads of similar interpretations in the same place. Look what happened:
Experiencing London
I then did the same thing but referred only to a specific place - Elephant and Castle. The project mapped people's experiences and opinions of the E&C area at points that Kevin Lynch refers to as nodes, paths and districts.The space is due to undergo major redevelopment for the 2012 Olympic Games, so a lot of the places in this series will soon be destroyed.
Then I went on to think about memory and the effect this has on our depiction of maps. How do people actually remember the places they interact with?
The set illustrates a hand drawn memory maps next to google satellite images of the same place. Thought these outcomes were quite interesting :) :)
This next part was strongly influenced by a quote by Georges Perec:
My spaces are fragile: time is going to wear them away, to destroy them. Nothing will any longer resemble what was, my memories will betray me, oblivion will infiltrate my memory.
The same route has been drawn by memory by three different people...I mean they barely look like the same place.
And then I experimented with outright lies. This was quite fun. It's interesting to see how the authority of a map imposes itself on the perception of the viewer. Can you spot the inconsistencies of the London Underground Map? It would have probably been fun to give this to a first time London tourist. ;P
Ok well that was breif little encounter with the ideas behind mapping. I'm looking forward to incorporating these ideas with my passion for drawing buildings.
Of course the London AZ was my biggest obsession at the time and Phyllis Pearsall (the creator of the guide) was a great source of inspiration. Pearsall made the AZ by walking the streets of London every morning and recorded the distances and the names... one by one (talk about having patience!) So I decided to start walking and recording...walking and recording. Some interesting things happened!
My first attempt was to walk in a circle along the main roads around Green Park and St James's Park and take photo's in a circular motion to create panoramas. Wish I had the 360 Panorama app for iPhone in those days! :(
My next walk was from the Michelin Building to Nelson's Column via the Piccadilly Line. This time I took photo's with the lens facing directly upwards and directly downwards at specific intervals.
I then turned my focus to other people's experiences and how this affects the mental image they have of a place.
My LDN recorded the spaces of individuals in London. Different people were asked to outline the areas familiar to them and white out the remaining space. Look at the geographic space that is London to different people.
My LDN
The next test explored a collection of random experiences that people had around the city. I mapped them around the river to see if there would be loads of similar interpretations in the same place. Look what happened:
I then did the same thing but referred only to a specific place - Elephant and Castle. The project mapped people's experiences and opinions of the E&C area at points that Kevin Lynch refers to as nodes, paths and districts.The space is due to undergo major redevelopment for the 2012 Olympic Games, so a lot of the places in this series will soon be destroyed.
The Elephant
The set illustrates a hand drawn memory maps next to google satellite images of the same place. Thought these outcomes were quite interesting :) :)
My Memory vs Google Maps
This next part was strongly influenced by a quote by Georges Perec:
My spaces are fragile: time is going to wear them away, to destroy them. Nothing will any longer resemble what was, my memories will betray me, oblivion will infiltrate my memory.
The same route has been drawn by memory by three different people...I mean they barely look like the same place.
Remember the drive to school?
And then I experimented with outright lies. This was quite fun. It's interesting to see how the authority of a map imposes itself on the perception of the viewer. Can you spot the inconsistencies of the London Underground Map? It would have probably been fun to give this to a first time London tourist. ;P
The London Underground Map
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