Mapping as Applied Research

Authors

  • Winifred E Newman Florida International University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17831/rep:arcc%25y148

Keywords:

Mapping, Data Visualization, Representation, Design

Abstract

Cartographers, geographers, and cultural historians acknowledge that existing frameworks for creating and understanding relationships through the map began to change in the mid-twentieth century. Terms like zoning, boundary condition, and master plan no longer adequately describe, catalog, or represent what are now understood as complex, culturally specific contexts and information networks. Additionally, new forms of mapping and new tools for representation allow faster and more data-intensive maps to be assembled. When used as an applied research method in design, mapping reveals a complex ofrelationships between representation and thinking, technology, culture, and aesthetic practices. With the aim of developing more effective ways to employ mapping, I offer a mapping course to students across disciplines that looks at maps in relation to the cartographic histories associated with different forms of themap and the relationship of these maps to an idea or place. This paper shares a method for mapping that emphasizes an understanding of the map as a strategy for the visualization of data and ideas. I show examples of student work using the tools learned in the course. Embedded in the pedagogy are terms used to organize effective maps that construct varied possible worlds by translating from one set of conditions, or constructs, to another through correspondence. Addressing maps as texts, objects of historical explanation, projections of new worlds, and a form of research, students gain a better understanding of spatial and ideational practices.

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Published

2013-08-28

How to Cite

Newman, W. E. (2013). Mapping as Applied Research. ARCC Conference Repository. https://doi.org/10.17831/rep:arcc%y148

Issue

Section

Peer-reviewed Papers