A Taxonomy of City Blocks

A few weeks ago, I came across some fascinating art that I would absolutely love to have in my future, more permanent dwelling place. Any sort of art involving cartography always catches my eye, and these I just can't pass up. I came across these again today on strangemaps.

These pieces by French artist Armelle Caron consist "of a series of map pairs, one a blind, but recognisably real city map, the other what looks like an assembly kit for that same city, with the its blocks impracticably but neatly arranged by shape and size.

The transformational process involved is threefold: the city on map A is deconstructed, its blocks are classified for size and shape, then reassembled in rows, arranged by type, on map B. The result is reminiscent of butterfly cases and other taxonomical tableaux rather than of a street map. More Linnaeus than Mercator."
Berlin


Manhattan, the East River, Brooklyn


Paris

Tamarac, FL

The full series and some other neat cartographic art by Caron can be seen here.