Category: Cartography

The digital scrapwood map of Europe, made of 54 different pieces of virtually recycled wood

9. April 2019

A map of Europe made of scrapwood

Well in time for the European elections, it’s finished: the map of Europe in digital scrap wood. The third in a series; previously I made a scrap wood map of the Netherlands and the world. 54 countries Making this map was a bit more difficult than the previous two. Instead of 12 provinces or seven continents, we are dealing with 54 different countries big and small here. And for each of them I have searched for a separate piece of wood. Virtual wood, by the way, let there be no misunderstanding about it. Geopolitics When making a map of Europe,… Read More

world map made of scrapwood, old planks, plywood and othe recycled material

Cartography

16. January 2019

The Scrapwood World Map

The scrapwood map the the provinces of the Netherlands was the most popular item in my Dutch webshop in 2018. That does not mean that the map is decorating walls in hundreds of living rooms, but it is still a modest success for this piece of virtual recycling. The World After this achievement, I just had to make a world map in scrapwood as well and here it is… Just like the map of the Netherlands it was rendered in 3ds Max using digital scaffolding, plywood, planks, slats, floorboards and rusty nails. The colors and textures were chosen quite randomly.… Read More

A world map like a dolphin would make it: a network of oceans en seas with some terra incognita in between

Cartography

23. August 2018

A Dolphin’s World Map

Once again I have tried to imagine the point of view of one of the other species we humans share this planet with. After the penguins and the moles this time it’s the turn of the dolphins. How does a dolphin mapmaker see the world? Sympathetic and intelligent Dolphins are known as friendly animals. Are they really as sympathetic as they look or are we somewhat misled because their mouths are permanently in the smiley position? I would not dare to make any firm statements about that. Dolphins are also known as intelligent beings. But how intelligent are they exactly?… Read More

A World Block Map, in colors that are realistic, albeit somewhat exagerated

Cartography

16. July 2018

The Block World Map Is Here At Last

Yes, my name, Blok, means Block. In fact, the family name was Block until one of my ancestors moved to Rotterdam in the late 18th century and a lazy municipality official dropped the c. In that light it’s amazing that it took so long for me to make a map using blocks. But here it finally is: a Block World Map. Grid The map consists of three grids, which are placed on top of each other. The largest blocks form a grid of 72 by 36; the attentive reader realizes immediately that each block corresponds to five degrees latitude and… Read More

World map mirrored in a reflective and slightly undulating water surface

Cartography

11. March 2018

The World in a Water Mirror

The Dutch word for water level is waterspiegel, which literally translates as water mirror. Such a great word! Because under the right circumstances – not too many waves, but certainly not too few – water gets magical reflective properties, distorting objects until they are barely recognizable. Ideally, the waves create a kind of impressionistic oil painting that can only be captured with fast shutter speeds. Reflectifications I wrote earlier about the reflections of Rotterdam buildings in the old harbor basins. Here is another interpretation of the idea: a water level world map. 3ds Max How do you create a water… Read More

Map of the Netherlands made out of scrapwood, rotated 20 degrees anticlockwise, with next to it the Dutch lion as a recessed surface in the concrete of the wall

Cartography

20. February 2018

How to Crop a Country – The Netherlands in Scrapwood

The scrap wood map of the Netherlands is a good example of digital recycling. A map of the twelve provinces, made from old planks, slats, boxes, scaffolding wood, plywood, floorboards and similar scrap. But what is actually the most economical crop for that map? Advice Sometimes, when I get stuck during a design process, I ask the Facebook panel for advice. Social media is a blessing for the self-employed: since I no longer work in an open-plan office, I can not walk up to my colleagues anymore to ask them what they think. In those cases, I ask my friends… Read More

Detail of the Color Map of Rotterdam cropped at the city center with all city blocks drawn in a random color

Cartography

23. December 2017

Christmas: a Festival of Light and Color

Christmas is in the grayest and darkest part of the year. As far as nature is concerned, because with Christmas lights and decorations, that lack of light and color is generously compensated nowadays. In this blog post I present two maps that therefore fit very well with the Christmas season: the Light map and the Color map of Rotterdam. Solstice Christmas is the most important Christian holiday. But the origins of the festival date back to before the birth of Jesus. Both the Romans and the Germans did not let the winter solstice on 21 December pass by unnoticed. Understandably:… Read More

Map of the Netherlands with names of all 72 towns, villages and hamlets containing the word "berg" (mountain)

Cartography

1. November 2017

Mapping the Dutch Mountains

The Netherlands, as the name suggests, are as flat as a well-laid laminate floor. And yet in this country there are a lot of populated places with the word “berg” (mountain) in their name. I collected them all and put them on the Mountain Map of the Netherlands. Three Mountains “So where are those three mountains?” I wondered when I recently got out of the train at the railway station of Driebergen (meaning “three mountains). They were not there, of course. The nearby Utrechtse Heuvelrug (Utrecht Ridge) is at its highest point, the Amerongse Berg (Mount Amerongen), only 70 meters… Read More

Work in progress by the author on a digital graffiti world map on a wall of ten by five metres

Cartography

13. October 2017

Graffiti and Coffee Beans: Two New World Maps

What do graffiti and coffee have in common? Not much, I suspect, except that the average street artist will occasionally drink an espresso or latte. And that they both formed the inspiration for a world map. Cartograffiti More or less at the same time, I finished the work on the World Map Graffiti and the World Map Coffee Beans. They’re two maps with a totally different look and feel, and created in rather different ways. They have, however, one thing in common: when I started, I expected to finish them in one or two days, but it took weeks before… Read More

Detail of the Rotterdam Water Map, shaped like rust patterns on the hull of a ship, zoomed in on the city center and the Kop van Zuid district

Cartography

28. August 2017

Rusty Rivers – the Rotterdam Water Map

On one of my photo tours through Rotterdam I went to Park Quay. At that location, not far from the inner city, often relatively large seagoing ships are moored. This time, one of those ships was in obvious need of some major maintenance. I made some pictures of it, including this one: Rust I can look at this kind of pictures for hours. A lot of things are happening here on a couple of square meters! The red paint on the ship’s hull is irregularly discolored into a wild palette of shades all the way to purple and pink. In… Read More