About
Heraclitus of Ephesus says: “we are and we ar not, we do and we do not enter in the same river twice, but everything exhales from water”. Maps are and are not territories. Both maps and territories are spaces. Any map is a translation of some space into another. And any map is a territory because it striates a space. The maps you know structure your spatial options; how you live in your space is both constrained and made possible by these maps. In this sense, your maps are your territory. There is one thing they do not contain, though: the experience they lead you to. This experience extends and transforms your maps. In this sense, your territory transcends your map.
There are many excellent map-commenting blogs in the net. Links to them can be found in the right navigation pannel. This blog is more centered on the production of maps and territories. The objects I describe are the result of my mapping work and of my experience of territories. It is also about the tools that made them possible.
About the author
This blog is the work of André Ourednik. I am a geographer specialized in the fields of social geography, geophilosophy and geoinformatics. I’ve obtained my Master degree at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lausanne (fields geography, philosophy and informatics) and my PhD at the EPFL, Faculty ENAC. Questioning spaces and territories is my main occupation. My practice consists in producing static and dynamic maps, conducting research projects, and writing theoretical papers and essays. I further extend this questioning as a fiction writer.
My current positions are:
- Researcher at the Geosciences and Environment Faculty, University of Lausanne
- Lecturer at the Humanities College, EPFL
- Lecturer (professore contratto) at the Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature straniere, Università degli Studi di Bergamo
The best way to contact me is my professional e-mail :
