Digital Mapping Symposium to Broaden Visions in Architecture

In response to the increasing use of new technologies in the field of architecture, a symposium on digital mapping, “Cartography in the Age of Digital Media,” will be held at the Yale School of Architecture on Friday, April 5.

In the past few years, new cartographic technologies have had a profound impact on the methods of measurement and the representation of space. Such technologies can be applied globally and locally and can be employed in a variety of fields-from geology to the biological sciences.

Among the many cartographic technologies, 3-D scanning technology, advanced laser altimetry, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), satellite positioning systems and real-time motion capture technology have produced new visions of the body and the world.

For the field of architecture, the effects of such new technologies can be profound, according to Michael Silver, who teaches at the Yale School of Architecture and is one of the moderators of the symposium.

“By exceeding the limits of flat drawings and photographs, new cartographic technologies are changing the way architects build,” says Silver.

With the help of new digital imaging technologies, for example, large data sets can be visualized with an unprecedented level of accuracy and detail. Rather than as a two-dimensional series of densely packed coordinates, the data can now be read in three dimensions, with less time and effort.

“These new forms of cartographic representation, in fact, work to actively shape, and perhaps reshape, our perceptions of reality,” says Silver.

The symposium will attempt to combine the insights of designers, theorists, engineers and artists, and will seek to examine the prospects of cartographic technologies in the digital age.

The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Friday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Hastings Hall, 180 York Street.