An Appreciation of Ordnance Survey Maps

I spent some time in May at the British Library randomly looking at atlases and maps, some of which will be featured here in upcoming weeks. They have a huge collection of Ordnance Survey atlas books of 1:1056 scale (1 inch = 88 feet) map sheets. While these maps are primarily black lines on white paper, their beauty lies in the remarkable detail.

Note: these maps are in great shape, with fairly pristine white paper. My phone has a tendency to darken maps when I photograph them. I could have brought back the actual color by adjusting the brightness and contrast but I kind of like the old-timey sepia look of these images.

Here are the gas tanks at Kennington.

Here is some nice detail of the railroad infrastructure at the Nine Elms Works, near the Battersea Power Station.

 The only color I saw in any of these is in the water bodies.

One of my favorite places is the Greenwich Observatory, right on the Prime Meridian.

Finally, a little more detail in Greenwich Park showing the Queen's Oak and Bower and the old Magnetic Observatory.

The Quarantine Atlas

Two years ago, at the beginning of the current pandemic, Bloomberg CityLab asked readers to map their life under quarantine. They displayed many maps, some of which were featured here on a previous blog post. Last week they published over 65 of these maps as The Quarantine Atlas.

While the publisher's page does not show any examples, there are quite a few on this Bloomberg page as well as many other maps not in the atlas. Here are a few that I like.

Tiara Lui - Hong Kong

Nice job showing the commute and pandemic disruptions to the city.

Nabilla Nur Anisah - Depok, West Java, Indonesia 

Many of the maps show floor plans of the residence as that is where people are stuck. I like this one because it contrasts the home life with the three hours of commuting to an office in South Tangerang.

Alfonso Pezzi - London transformed. Everything is delivered home including entertainment and work.

Finally here is one that did not make the atlas but I like all the intersecting geographies; floor plans, the local park, the drive to school, various road trips to nearby cities and then out to Illinois.

Carol Hsuing - Millburn, New Jersey

Cockney Sound Map

The geographic definition of a Cockney (London's most beloved and belittled accent) is someone who was born within earshot of the church bells of St. Mary-le-Bow. The church is centrally located in the Cheapside district. The tremendous increase in ambient city noise has shrunk their area quite a bit over the years.

This "sound map" via Wired was compiled by noise consultants 24 Acoustics. 150 years ago the bells could be heard in much of the city (the green areas) including some areas across the river. As noise has increased from traffic, construction, airplanes, air conditioners and other symptoms of urban life, the area where you can hear the bells has shrunk down to the blue section. The shape and reach of these areas is affected by wind direction.

The sound-shed is now so small that there are no longer any maternity wards located within earshot of the bells. That means no more babies are being born as cockneys (unless born at home, or on the way to the hospital). Out of concern for losing cockney culture one area vicar backed a plan to make an MP3 audio file available to would be cockneys. This is available from the Times Atlas of London according to this article, however the link is broken. You can hear them on YouTube.

Soundscapes

"The Soundscape of Istanbul project (https://soundscapeofistanbul.ku.edu.tr) approaches everyday traditions and daily urban life from a sonic perspective and aims to increase public awareness of cultural sounds."

The dots above are color coded by type of space and a click on each one brings up a window with a SoundCloud sample of what the place sounds like. Here is an English translation of the legend for those of us who can't read Turkish.

The colors could be more logical and it is difficult to distinguish some of them on the map. 

There are three other cities including Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey, where you can listen to the sounds of the tailor and copper smith among others. You can create a nice orchestral cacophony by clicking on a bunch of sounds.

Also included are London with traffic noises, train announcements, church bells and street musicians,

and Le Havre, France, where you can listen to maritime traffic and the blessing of the ships.

The project has a platform where you can register a login and contribute your own sounds.

More Map Acquisitions

Map Acquistions - Part Two

Central Leningrad from a city guide by Intourist,  travel service of the U.S.S.R, circa 1976.

Another view of Leningrad, Falk plans, Hamburg, Germany, 1976.

A very schematic map of Moscow from Intourist.

Tourist map of Milan - the eye watering color scheme and overly fussy level of detail make it a treat to try and read.

Bus guide-Barnet, North London

A "Parking Disc" for North Yorkshire - set the time of arrival and display on your windscreen. Fail to display the disc and you have "committed an offence."

Hughes Airwest map of Guadalajara,

and Puerto Vallarta

Here's something I haven't come across before - an uncredited map. There is no publishing info but here's the cover.

There are some nice details on it,

 with this odd inset - I guess showing the extent of streets in 1947. Except where they masked them under "San Francisco"

Finally, a personal favorite since I vacation here, "Damariscotta Boxes the Compass" a map with a ridiculously prominent compass.

The houses and churches are drawn so large you can't tell where they're located. This is from the Damariscotta Information Bureau - we still use their maps but they are much more legible these days.

Landmarks of London

British artist and photographer Martin Thompson has created Landmarks of London.

The Thames River runs as if it were a straight line through the middle and occupying much of the drawing. The main details are the bridges. They are turned sideways so you see the details as you would approaching from a boat. This creates a strange disorienting effect if you look closely, especially when looking at the waves around the bridge supports and the connections to the riverbanks. The landmarks seem to be an aside-literally. They are also turned sideways so they pop out from the river in each direction. Here is a detailed section.

This work does not appear to be for sale yet and there are not any higher resolution versions on his page. However Ollie O'Brien has some nice higher resolution details on the Mapping London blog, as well as a more detailed write up. This one is turned sideways and shows some of the newer, goofily named buildings.

-via Mapping London

The Great British Television Map

For those of you who can't get enough British television, American Tim Ritz has given us the Great British Television Map.

The map shows each series with a thick white arrow pointing to its intended setting. The setting location is color coded by channel. A much smaller, and often difficult to follow black line points to the filming location. A notable exception is Doctor Who, who's setting is listed as "All of time & space" and is located off to the side.
Here's a detail from the Midlands.

There is also a London inset map at the bottom.

The map can be purchased as a print here.

Apple Maps in 3D

The much maligned Apple Maps has improved its product in many ways. I bought a new computer for the first time in many years so I'm just discovering this not very new feature-the 3D models. They are accompanied by flyover tours of selected cities such as Seattle.

Apple acquired a Swedish company called C3 Technologies, that created 3D models of buildings based on aerial flyovers and guided missile technology. They were then able to quickly create a huge database of building models worldwide. Having tried to do this in SketchUp, (which I believe Google uses for their 3D buildings,) I have an appreciation for how much work each building takes. Unfortunately Apple's maps are only available on Apple devices. Google Maps has more extensive 3D coverage (and available to everyone with a web browser) but Apple's models are clearer and cooler looking. They also draw more smoothly.

Some gimmicks have been added. For example, In London Big Ben will always show the correct time, though it would be more accurate if it was lit up when it's dark there. Also, the London Eye is animated! 

Some more examples:
Sydney

Mount Rushmore

The Bromo Seltzer Tower in Baltimore

Here is a comparison of Google's vs Apple's 3D view of the above tower. Google's model is on the left.

Most articles online about Apple Maps are full of snooty comments about how bad they are. Google still has the edge over Apple Maps in many respects and StreetView is a huge reason to continue using them. However, in recent travels I've found Apple Maps more helpful for locating restaurants, hotels and other businesses. I use both of them (as well as Here Maps and even Mapquest) and do not strongly advocate one over the other but Apple Maps is definitely worth another look.

Bonus Weekend Map-Lumiere London

For four nights, January 14-17th, Lumiere London transforms the West End and King's Cross areas into a festival of lights, art and music. They have created a coupe of maps of the installations and events including this wonderful map of King's Cross.

This is a screen grab - for the full map and activities, see the screen programme. The map's dark background creates a nice contrast with the installations and other features. The dark blue rails give off a cool dimly lit effect. The water and vegetation are unrealistically bright but they make the map pop and also much easier to read. The pink dots above are the light installations, the yellow are food and other events.

The citywide map and events can be found on their online brochure. It's much less pretty but useful for navigation. I'm not sure why they didn't do this one in the same night-time style.

- via MappingLondon

A Compendium of Hand Drawn Goodness

Frome County, Nevada (fake county) - from the Wild West, war game by Wassail Beagles

 The Town of Steaming Rock (fake town) in Frome County, Nevada

Map to the StrikeKing Bowling Alley in Mishor Adumim, an Israeli settlement east of Jerusalem.

Nancy Chandler's Bangkok Map 

Traditional Regions of Tibet - via Tibet Insider

Essaouira, Morocco

101 Dalmatians Map

Maycomb, Alabama Harper Lee's fictional town from To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman

 Sobha City - a Mediterranean themed community outside of Bangalore, India - located about here

Garrison Keillor's "Memory Map" of the Twin Cities - via National Geographic