Roussel, Megan. Maps, Knowledge, and Power

In this article, the author is showing the different roles maps had in history. Cartography can be a form of knowledge or a form a power. Map reading was considered a kind of language. Communication by maps was mainly controlled by assertive groups. Apparently, holding cartographic information was used as a sign of power whether it’s claiming land on paper even before it was occupied or just defining colonies. Maps supported the direct execution of territorial power. Mapmaking was one of the “specialized, intellectual weapons by which power could be gained, administered, given legitimacy, and codified.” Besides for abusing power, maps were used for financial mappings, estates, waterways, ownership as well as political boundaries. But maps could not always be reliable whether people deliberately or unintentionally distorted maps. Distorted maps can come about through the “hidden rules” of cartography whether its “silence” on maps, subliminal geometry, and representational hierarchies. As landscape architects when we reproduce maps to show specific information we have to pay attention to details that may not be as important to the message we are trying to convey. We cannot overlook how essential it is to produce a map that is authentic. While we are not cartographers, it is still crucial that we do not fabricate map details in our favor to help our designs.