1899 European Geopolitics

“Angling in Troubled Waters” map by cartographer Fred W. Rose shows the European geopolitical situation in 1899. If you look at the details (see the larger version) you will see some countries such as Russia, UK, and Ottoman Empire are fishing. What do they catch? Blogger Catholicgauze says:

“…their ‘catches’ are in fact colonial possessions.”

This map, found via Boran Güney, is a neat example of the micro macro visualization technique. You can read through human figures and symbols across national borders.

What about today?

Architect Rem Koolhaas and his office OMA/AMO make dadaist montages of todays sociopolitical scenes on timelines and maps and they align them with architectural and cultural products. OMA/AMO’s 2004 book Content has an excellent article, “An Autopsy”, which is an annotated spatial montage of events and figures on a timeline from 1989 to 2003. Here are some pictures from An Autopsy article (taken with my cellphone camera):

An Autopsy is authored by Theo Deutinger, Maja Borchers, Matthew Murphy, Nanne de Ru, Max Schwitalla, Sebastian Thomas.

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