Tag Archives: river

MapCarte 348/365: Abekawa-dōri sanchū ichien ezu by Ichiryūtei Shoraku Dōjin, 1862

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MapCarte348_aberiverInstead of creating general purpose reference maps that depict the topographic detail of a specified area, an alternative approach is to let a specific feature define the area itself. In this sense, the feature becomes the central player in the map and all other content becomes its supporting cast. It also determines the shape, format and, possibly, the size of the finished product. This superb example shows the Abe River region in Japan from the mid 19th century. The river itself defines the shape and scope of the map with the flow from north-west to south-east being depicted from left to right across the map, with straightening being used in places. In this case, north is towards the upper left rather than directly upwards.

The map is predominantly pictorial with relief in particular shown pictorially. Relief is drawn in aspect while the map in general is planimetric; a fairly typical approach of the time in Japanese cartography. It’s also worth noting that the mountains are not uniformly drawn with their base at the bottom and peak at the top across the map – they change orientation so, for instance, toward the left of the map it’s noticeable that the mountains are rotated left by 90 degrees to show them as the origin of the river and make the flow of the river make more sense visually.

MapCarte348_aberiver_detailThere is very little text on the map itself, the reverse side being used for notes on the geography of the region. This allows the map to remain clutter free and for the topography to be drawn in detail. The finish is in watercolour and ink with major land uses benefiting from different hues to demarcate the landscape.

The braided river flowing through alluvial deposits and floodplains is particularly well represented and stands out amongst other rich colours of the surrounding mountains. The stippled pattern for the plains adds to the texture of the map and creates a sense of realism that a relatively solid fill doesn’t. There’s no frame as such and the river washes out into the sea to the right.

A beautiful map and an example of allowing your subject or theme dictate many of the other cartographic choices to be made.

MapCarte 27/365: Willamette River historic channels by Daniel E. Coe, 2013

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MapCarte27_coe

Borrowing heavily from the Mississippi river channel maps designed by Harold Fisk (MapCarte 26), Daniel Coe has taken LiDAR data of the Willamette River, Oregon and created a stunning image of historic river channels.

At a glance the map might appear to be a plume of smoke or possibly an electric storm. The title is the only real hint of what the image represents but it’s enough. Adding contextual detail such as roads or cities would take this abstract map and revert it to a simple topographic reference map. The impact would be lessened and here we have an example of ‘less is more’ as the map invites the reader to figure out what they’re looking at. Once understood, you begin to explore the many twists and turns of the channels and can visualize the feel of the water rushing through and carving the landscape. Coe uses a single blue hue that becomes lighter to represent deeper channels and this simple effect is stunning…almost creating an x-ray of the landscape that picks out one feature and shows it far more clearly than a standard map can ever hope to show.

Further details and a link to buy a large format poster here.