Topographic London is a set of two posters focussing on London's underlying geographic features. Our everyday view of London is as a sprawling metropolis, with almost all the land occupied by buildings and shaped by man. These posters show London as revealed by Ordnance Survey's DTM (Digital Terrain Model) dataset, with the built environment stripped away to expose the lie of the land, showing how the Thames and its numerous tributaries have shaped the topography, creating ridges, hills and valleys. Much of central London is built on the river's vast flood plains – the shape of the loops of the river as it meanders across the plains are one of the distinguishing features of the city.
The Rivers and tributaries poster shows all of the small rivers, streams and brooks that feed into the Thames as it flows through London. Some tributaries such as the Effra and the Fleet were built over and are now trapped underground, some channelled into London's convoluted sewer system. Names such as River Peck and River Rom reveal the origin of names of some of London's well-known neighbourhoods.
The Hills and valleys poster highlights all the London place names that are derived from the geography of their location. Many have become so embedded in our minds that we don't think about the geographic reason why locations such as Muswell Hill and Maida Vale have their names.
The posters are screen-printed in metallic silver with blue and green on GF Smith Naturalis Absolute Matt White 160gsm paper. Printed by Bob Eight Pop. Dimensions: 500 x 700mm. Open edition, with an initial run of 50 of each poster, signed in pencil. They are for sale through www.melissaprice.bigcartel.com
The posters were selected for sale in the Dezeen Superstore, a pop-up shop featuring a range of exclusive products. Based in Covent Garden, the shop ran through August and September 2012. Here's the feature on the Dezeen blog http://www.dezeen.com/
The Rivers and tributaries poster shows all of the small rivers, streams and brooks that feed into the Thames as it flows through London. Some tributaries such as the Effra and the Fleet were built over and are now trapped underground, some channelled into London's convoluted sewer system. Names such as River Peck and River Rom reveal the origin of names of some of London's well-known neighbourhoods.
The Hills and valleys poster highlights all the London place names that are derived from the geography of their location. Many have become so embedded in our minds that we don't think about the geographic reason why locations such as Muswell Hill and Maida Vale have their names.
The posters are screen-printed in metallic silver with blue and green on GF Smith Naturalis Absolute Matt White 160gsm paper. Printed by Bob Eight Pop. Dimensions: 500 x 700mm. Open edition, with an initial run of 50 of each poster, signed in pencil. They are for sale through www.melissaprice.bigcartel.com
The posters were selected for sale in the Dezeen Superstore, a pop-up shop featuring a range of exclusive products. Based in Covent Garden, the shop ran through August and September 2012. Here's the feature on the Dezeen blog http://www.dezeen.com/