Tucked away in a corner of downtown Kansas City, we came across this giant map of Paris, split into individual frames at TMB Travel. Click through the jump to see them closeup!
The city as a whole is rather intoxicating. Even though it is split into separate pieces, you still want to look at every frame, every street, every building. Or maybe we just have a thing for cool old maps.
On this particular map, every farm, field and house is outlined. You could make your own maps by using Rasterbator if you don't happen to have a 7' map of Paris laying around. Just google and print!
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gorgeous!
The Paris map is a reproduction of a 1739 map originally published by an artist named Etienne Turgot. This map was made by AM, a Holland-based company that specializes in historical reproductions. The map is available in a desktop portfolio (which is what was used to make this display), or as a wall-sized fabric version in three scrolls. Check it out at www.authenticmodels.com.
I've seen this done several times and always love the way it looks.
very sexy and smart.
lovely solution for "big art"
ooooooooooh, I love it
The map I love best has got to be the Nolli Map of Rome. It was originally drafted in the series of sheets, and you can get a slightly smaller version of it here. I dream of having a big enough apartment for this baby.
Very nice. People have been framing these old maps of Paris--or copies thereof--and hanging them as a group in exactly this arrangement for decades now, but seldom with as much graphic impact as these have. Too often, these days, they're hung in rooms with a lot of speciously 'Parisian' stuff--curlicue sconces, fringy pillows, a collection of parfum bottles, a black-&-whwite poster of Audrey Hepburn or that photo of the kid with the loaves of bread--that diminish the power of this assemblage without adding anything at all distinctive to the mix.
This handsome room proves that the combination of a limited palette, smooth, plain surfaces, a relentless symmetry & a traditional wall treatment is absolutely no barrier to the creation of a strong design. Not, anyway, in the right hands. True artistry comes from the way one handles his or her available materials, not from the materials themselves. This is a wonderfully self-confident room in which the designer not only displays his own talents, but also his absolute confidence in the viewer's own taste.
ooh so pretty! what an amazing modern way to hang a map!
I love this, saw it in some home improvement type book years ago, and have since been trying to find the perfect map to do it in my dining room. I want NYC, my fave city in the world, but so far, no luck :(
i love old maps, especially ones of places that have a special meaning to me. i recently picked up an old watercolored map of the james river as it winds through virginia, where i grow up. its got yellow marks where it was creased, so its this organic meandering river on this unintentional grid of the fold lines. i cant wait to have it framed and hung.
by the way, old maps of special places are really good presents for people- for example, a topo map of the place they went on their honeymoon etc.
bloo is right- the nolli map is a-maz-ing. but i'm a city planner so way partial to maps. and its pretty easy to find good reproductions- i also like the hand drawn nature of sandborn fire insurance maps. mmm, maps.
years ago my grandparents put of the Nolli map of Rome on their living room wall. it was gorgeous. it was on the wall like wallpaper.
I love this look so much. And you can cut up any large piece of art for a similar dramatic effect.
I recently posted a house tour of George's south side bungalow. George is a fantastic Interior Designer and owns the awesome Lakeview boutique, George Lowell. He has a map covering an entire wall in a fairly small bedroom.
Here's the link:
http://www.strangeclosets.com/2008/08/strange-closets_28.html
T8
www.strangeclosets.com
When design takes priority, the result is often strange closets.
Oh I love this! The Tulane School of Architecture mini lecture room on the third floor has a very similar map...I always loved it.
You can probably sneak a peak if you watch Architecture School on Sundance.
Jessica
http://blackwhiteyellow.blogspot.com/
I looked on AM's website for the Paris portfolio, and it says that it is in 25 sheets, but this display is only 20. Are you sure that that is where it is from? I know that the original map was made in 20 plates. Does anyone know if there are five sheets that are not used?
maps as art-i love it. i'm slowly acquiring maps of paris through the ages. i came by some at an art store, i imagine their intention was for découpageing, but i put it on canvas and up on the wall it went
the one of rome-i'm gonna have to look into that. it's beautiful.