Google Maps is a Cubist Masterpiece
January 25th, 2006Design
Google Maps is messing with my head.
Today they added two more notches to the satellite zoom for a scary-good level of detail. I hopped on the site when I found out and immediately started the obligatory eyeballing of my neighborhood, office, etc. (What the—? There’s someone in my ‘hood with a rooftop pool?!
)
The pictures that make up these maps are taken from different angles and spatial planes by necessity. (Kind of hard to photograph the whole Earth from one spot, no?) This can lead to some pretty mind-bending results. Check out this shot of Rockefeller Center in New York City (direct link).
Woah. Look at those buildings collide. Smash ‘em up good! Obviously the shots of The Rock were taken in a different pass than the ones that include St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which are altogether different from the ones that show the southern buildings of the Rockefeller Center complex. The result is a glorious architectural Clash of the Titans. Sweet.
David Sleight is a web designer living and working in New York City, and the Deputy Creative Director of BusinessWeek.com
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