8 Maps of Barcelona

I took this mapmaking class a few weeks ago. I used to think online learning was just like offset lithography: modern and soul-less.

Well, it's great. Kind of like blogging.

It jumpstarted a couple of projects for me, and I discovered all these cool maps of my city:

1) Barcelona is on the Mediterranean, and green tendrils of growing things stick out of every balcony. So it makes sense that this city is full of urban gardens. Thanks to socialism, we can even search for them with an online map. Also check out the group that put this together, La Fábrica del Sol, which gives tours that focus on the the city's green spaces.

2) This tongue-in-cheek map of the old city on They Draw and Travel captures the city's sense of humor.

3) This map is pinned up in a little bakery off the Plaça de la Virreina. I just love its illustrative-ness. This is exactly what Gracia (my neighborhood) is like: dense, quaint.

4) This is an interactive online map of Picasso's Barcelona. Thanks, Picasso Museum!

5) This is the lithography stone that Idelfons Cerdà's plan for L'Eixample was printed from. It lives in the Museum of City History. A lot of skill went into making this thing: cartography, hand lettering, and traditional stone lithography.

6) Get your paws on a copy of the special edition of reproductions of Cerdà's maps issued in 2009 by the Catalan Cartographic Institute. It is one sweet piece of bookbinding. One of the places you can find it (for free!) is on the third floor of the Sagrada Famìlia Library. 

7) I loved this poster for Sant Jordi day, coming soon to a Catalan city near you. Here the famous grid has become a visual shorthand for the city.

8) These hand drawn maps of the city (with sketches!) by Clara Nubiola. Published by B-side Books. Photo credit.