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In a presentation I gave at GeoIgnite 2021, I was explaining the process of using QGIS to make shaded relief from DEMs, more or less as detailed in this post. There wasn’t time to explain the process of re-projection, so I rather boldly asserted that you don’t need to re-project your DEMs before making shaded … Continue reading Making shaded relief directly from DEMs projected in degrees? →
over a year ago

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More from The Wandering Cartographer

Constructing the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling

I was flipping through Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament a couple months ago, and my eye was caught by this handsome pattern I had not noticed before. This is Jones’s Plate XLII, in the chapter on designs from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. He calls it, “Part of the ceiling of the Portico of the … Continue reading Constructing the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling →

a year ago 107 votes
The Mathematics of the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling

(This is the math geek part about the Sala de la Barca ceiling. For instructions on constructing the pattern with compass and straightedge, go over to Part 1.) In the process of figuring out how to draw this pattern, I ran into a lot of questions, and had to do more than a little math … Continue reading The Mathematics of the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling →

a year ago 110 votes
Transforming French WW1 Lambert Coordinates to WGS84

Nord de Guerre Here’s a survey plat made in 1919 by a US Army unit in France. In the aftermath of WW1, teams of American military surveyors produced these as they went around France mapping the grave sites of fallen soldiers. On this plat we can see a number of bearings and distances from the … Continue reading Transforming French WW1 Lambert Coordinates to WGS84 →

a year ago 99 votes
Cartographic palettes and colour harmonies

This story begins one day when I was assembling a map of the city of Edmonton, Alberta from OpenStreetMap data. It was going to be a big map, a 42″ (106 cm) wide poster for a wall. The data was good, but the standard OSM colours were not. They would work fine for a street … Continue reading Cartographic palettes and colour harmonies →

over a year ago 107 votes
Constructing Bourgoin’s Figure 171 – Part 2

Now that we know our way around the pattern (go back to Part 1), it should be fairly straightforward to construct with a compass and straightedge. But be aware: any pattern that requires you to construct a pentagon is an advanced challenge. They are trickier to make than squares or hexagons. Here’s what we want … Continue reading Constructing Bourgoin’s Figure 171 – Part 2 →

over a year ago 55 votes

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The Myth of St. Gaudí: Miracle Worker or Great Architect?

Even as he approaches sainthood, the man who “designed Barcelona” defies categorization.

2 days ago 4 votes
How the Architectural Model Maker Behind the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Impressed Architects Around the World

MAD’s exhibition in Rotterdam, to the China Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, to KPF’s renovated Manhattan studio, and to the groundbreaking ceremony for Changi Airport Terminal 5 in Singapore, QZY Models has made frequent appearances in these remarkable architectural projects. Based in Shenzhen, China, this model-making team has established collaborations with architects around the world.  How do they work together to realize the ideal expression of each project? Archinect takes a closer look at the team and the stories behind their models.

4 days ago 7 votes
Reading List 07/26/25

An important FAA rule change, construction microfactories, recycling data center waste heat, the rise and fall of MATLAB, and more.

a week ago 10 votes
Archinect Meets: The Daily Splice

Cutting up, piecing together, remixing, and collaging have been essential and time-tested elements of the creative process, including architecture. British graphic designer and animator Adam Hale, however, takes the medium to another level with a steady stream of often humorous — and always fascinating — animated collages on his popular Instagram account The Daily Splice. In today's Archinect Meets, we chat with him about his introduction to making collages, his connection to the built environment, and his preferred digital tools.

a week ago 12 votes
A Change of Course – Honing Network Rail’s Wayfinding Guidance

Finding your way around a Network Rail station is becoming another step easier. The publication of the most recent version of Network Rail’s Wayfinding design manual represents the latest step in the company’s quest to design the best possible signage system for stations. Given the ongoing moves towards re-integrating large parts of the railway network […]

a week ago 14 votes