What if Portland's neighborhoods were defined by the sensory experience of living in them, like the things you can hear or smell? Most strong smells in Portland originate from particular types of pungent businesses, such as coffee roasters, breweries, bakeries, or (less pleasantly) heavy chemical industries or roof tarring.-- Portlandness: A Cultural Atlas by David Banis and Hunter Shobe, published by Sasquatch Books.
Portlandness is a book of "new cartography" that depicts Portland's "culturalness" through 150 infographic maps, including the one described above that maps Portland by the way neighborhoods smell. It is one of my favorite maps in the book because that hoppy brewery smell so common in Portland always reminds me of going downtown as a kid, back when the Henry Winhard brewery made most of downtown smell like that.
Authors David Banis and Hunter Shobe both work as geographers at Portland State University, studying how people connect to places and environments and how cartographers can tell stories with maps.
Here is the review from The Oregonian. Portlandness is a great mix of cartography, sociology, and graphic design. It is definitely a good Christmas present idea for the wonkier friends and Portland lovers on your gift list.
Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.
This sounds fascinating. Once, in the misty past, I was a geography major. In fact, my BA's in geography with an American History minor. My teaser comes from Killing Trail by Margaret Mizushima this week. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fascinating book that would add a whole new dimension to my visits to Portland.
ReplyDeleteMy Tuesday post features THE JOURNEY BACK – A Doublesight Story.
Now I know the origin of the title of your blog!
ReplyDeleteMy TT this week: The Octopus: A Story of California by Frank Norris at http://wp.me/pZnGI-sc