The incomplete results of an act of mapping

Abstract

The disciplines of architecture and urban design have representation as their main communication tool. However, in recent years, the possibilities of access to information – digital archives, open cartographic sources – and the emergence of geographic information systems have shaken the way of representing and explaining issues that were until recently linked to the physical condition of places. How do we map space and experiences? How do we map global – climate change, monetary flows – vs. local processes? How do we map concepts such as boundaries, regularity or porosity? How do we map tangibles and intangibles? How do we map sensations produced by noises, flavours or smells? How do we map paths and movement? How do we represent dynamics in a static drawing? What is the (ir)relevance of geographical precision? This paper describes the process based on an expanded dialogue to use domestic digital tools – hand drawings, pictures, video, google maps, cad and GIS cartographies, big data, open-source data, sound recordings – to produce incomplete understandings of the territory instead of achieving a finished product.