From Here to There - The art and revelations of hand-drawn maps

From Here to There

by Kris Harzinski

Princeton Architectural Press

2010, 224 pages, 5 x 7.4 x .09

$13 Buy a copy on Amazon

Google maps are unsurpassed for convenience and scale. Lost in this modern marvel is the unleashed personality of a hand-drawn map. Not too long ago, in order to get to a friend’s house, or to find a cool restaurant, someone would need to draw you a map on a scrap of paper. That sketched map was an abstraction, a distillation that said almost as much about the drawer as about the location. Each person compresses reality differently. The thickness of a line, the size of lettering, what they ignore vs what they emphasize — all reveal their person, and on paper, this revelation is always a surprise. Besides directions, these charts were sheets of folk art. Recognizing their vanishing beauty, Kris Harzinski began collecting these throw-away hand-drawn maps. He also collected hand-drawn maps of imaginary places. He created a Hand Drawn Map Association, and funneled 200 of the more curious maps into this tome. This is not a coffee table book (although it could have been), but a modest paperback that works as a reminder and inspiration. – Kevin Kelly



April 2, 2014