Is there a metropolis you’re keen on? Make it yours with a customized map, created by cartographer-urban designer Venna Sri Hari Kanth
Is there a metropolis you’re keen on? Make it yours with a customized map, created by cartographer-urban designer Venna Sri Hari Kanth
Swetha Mathur, architect and college at School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi, gifted her father-in-law, on his ninetieth birthday, a map of Vrindavan, Mathura. It is a present that he cherishes, one which introduced recollections alive and made his day.
“The map brought back not just memories of the place but also of the elders in the family who are not around. Unlike a photograph, with a map you get to ‘locate’ memories,” she says. Elements included within the map embrace temples the household visited and the artwork types of the realm.
Venna’s custom-made map of Vrindavan
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The map has been created by Venna Sri Hari Kanth. The cartographer from Vishakhapatnam is an architect, an city designer, and likewise her former scholar. Now learning on the University of Michigan, Venna’s maps are offered as artwork on web sites reminiscent of Kulture Shop, Dessine Art and Art & Found. “Maps are important as they help us understand a city’s growth. And it is difficult to read from outdated maps. Indian cities don’t have detailed maps and making a map is a huge task,” he explains over a name.
A map of Kolkata that he made in 2018 as a part of his Masters in Urban Design at SPA was the start of Venna’s tryst with cartography.
First break
Interestingly there’s a Chennai connection to Venna’s map story. One of the primary maps was of Chennai and MS Dhoni. It was a tribute to the previous skipper of the Indian crew, who introduced his retirement in August 2020. “I made a map of Chennai and Dhoni to show that he may have retired from all formats of international cricket but we could see him play for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). That map, Chennai city’s, with Dhoni’s face superimposed on it was widely shared among CSK fans on Instagram and also on the CSK official IG handle,” Venna remembers. The response to that map gave him an perception into how maps resonate with folks — “My journey customising maps started there.” On requests from followers, he made a number of maps for the opposite IPL groups.
Art in topography
According to Swetha, what makes Venna’s works particular is how he combines cartography and artwork. “The maps showcase both, and while doing so he brings out the beauty of geography. The work is tedious and labour intensive as it involves a lot of work such as verifying information, accurate measurements, besides ensuring that contours are accurate,” she provides.
A metropolis’s topography continually evolves and most accessible maps of cities and cities don’t consider these modifications. Only main cities and cities have been mapped intimately, the smaller ones seldom have such maps. “A particular dot on a map conveys a place or location. That could be part of a memory or a house that belongs to someone and could mean several things to them. People connect to cities and maps.” The smaller cities he has mapped, moreover Vrindavan, embrace Aluva (Kerala), Gulbarga (Karnataka), and Rajsamand (Rajasthan).
A map of Kochi
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Venna doesn’t use GIS (Geographic Information System mapping) information and that units his work other than different reminiscence map makers. “It is not accurate enough. I use open sources such as OpenStreetMaps for reference.” Although these are simply reminiscence maps the place some might imagine accuracy isn’t of consequence however Venna prefers his maps up to date as he sees them as being purposeful whereas being artwork created by “many planners, designers and Nature itself”.
Customised orders take time: an in depth map of Kochi took 4 months to finish, and his bestseller, Colombo, 5 months. “I tell my clients that it takes time and cannot be done in a jiffy, and most are prepared to wait.”
Venna needs to carry out the artwork in maps be it detailed or minimal. The former are detailed representations of locations, landmarks and different particulars, in contrast to the latter. The sizes begin with A4, “we, obviously, cannot show the entire city on a map of that size, on that size a part of the city or one area can be shown. Large maps are beautiful,” he says. Detailed maps additionally embrace buildings, inexperienced areas and different elements of a metropolis.
Sri Hari Kanth Venna
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The 27-year-old began posting his cartography samples on Instagram in the course of the lockdown, which led to enquiries and orders for personalised maps. “People have different thoughts and feelings about places and maps, they see maps differently,” he says. His shoppers embrace college students of Architecture or city designers and people within the hospitality business. There can be commissioned work by building firms which choose to showcase their tasks on a map rendered aesthetically”.
Many locations, many sorts
The largest framed map he has made is a 6 toes by 9 toes map of Hyderabad and a 6 toes by 10 toes map of Gulbarga, Karnataka. Larger maps are preferrred as they’ve the area to seize particulars reminiscent of roads and landmarks: ideally, a complete metropolis could be mapped on 2 toes by 3 toes and may go as much as 6 toes by 4 toes as a single body. Minimal maps alternatively are made up of roads and routes.
Of the cities he has made maps of, the most well-liked Indian metropolis is Mumbai. Prices begin at ₹2,000, however differ in keeping with the work, element, and end. Prices of customised maps are greater. For occasion, a 2 toes by 3 toes customised, minimal map of Chennai would price ₹6,500 for the print, framing and delivery excluded. Prices differ on the diploma of customisation and go as much as a lakh and extra. These are printed on archival matte paper, “which can last up to 175 years”.
A map he made was “a gift of memory” of the route from Delhi to Ladakh, for a pair, who wished to map their first journey collectively. For some, maps are an alternative choice to pictures, “A map can show the places that mean something to you. One map can hold more memories and tell more stories than a single photograph,” he provides.
Since school retains him busy he doesn’t have as a lot time to customize maps. “If a new project is a build-up from my previous work (map), it takes lesser time, however starting a new map requires detailing and customisation, hence more time,” he says. Venna’s maps on the opposite websites can’t be customised, he customises primarily based on consultations.
Stories mapped
The means of customisation begins with talking to the consumer about their requirement and recollections related to the place. For instance, when an Air Force officer retired his household commissioned eight maps to chart the course of his journey from when he was commissioned into the Air Force, in 1971, to his retirement in 2021. When the order was positioned, it was determined to make maps of the eight locations that mark necessary landmarks in his skilled and private life. The maps have been charted with pictures. “As I said…maps tell stories!”
Venna’s maps are on Instagram @vennaillustrations
Source: www.thehindu.com