May
16
2012
Mappa Mundi 2.0
When we talk maps, there is always the perception issue: who determines what is on a map and what is not? Well, here we have a map project focusing on precisely that. These maps by Carlos Romo Melgar from Madrid are an automapping project: cartography of someone’s personal world. You will immediately see the ressemblance with a medieval Mappa Mundi. Only in these Cosmographies it is not a monk reflecting on the world, but a metropolitan.
As Carlos puts it: “Nowadays we are surrounded by maps (exact and geographical maps), which sometimes have informations we don’t really need to get guided through a city. Cosmographies are a sort of record or archive of personal facts and experiences. The center of that cosmos is the person who looks around himself, and represents what he sees, through his past experiences. I find that is a different way to approach to a city, by the irrelevant opinions instead of the stablished facts from an authority.”
Check his website, you can also buy the Cosmographies there (contact Carlos through e-mail). To top it off, he even makes tailor made maps, to make sure the cosmography reflects your own experiences in a city. Carlos: “I usually talk to the client, and ask for their experiences. From several interviews I get the facts which I represent on the maps.” Well, tailor made or not, looking at these makes me want to go back to Madrid instantly. What a great way to portray a city!
detail of his Mappa Mundi
