The World Is Vertical as Well as Horizontal

Stephen Graham describes the dominance of the ‘flat tradition’ of geography and cartography, and the ‘largely horizontal worldview’ that has resulted from it. Robert Macfarlane draws on this in B-Underland, revealing the 'vertical' parts of the world below our feet that we too often forget.

For example cities. We look at [[!Google Maps]], walk paved streets, and give lateral directions. But cities are most remarkable for their vertical nature: from towering skyscrapers to underground transport and sewer networks.

Thoughts

• Stephen Graham's idea of how geography and cartography flatten is intriguing. How we represent a subject can influence how we see and think about it in reality (even if the two differ). Need to read Vertical.
• [[!Does digital flatten]]? Thinking about maps, ebooks, etc. and how we spend so much time in a 2D world now. Even shadows