Culture
Mapping the Bones of a City
Every building in Chicago, mapped by zoning, size, code violations and new construction.
The above glowing map contains the footprint of every building in Chicago, from the 6.4 million square-foot original McCormick Place complex on South Lake Shore Drive – five stories, zoned PD 331 for cultural and entertainment purposes – to this tight warren of single-family homes (and detached garages) on the city's South Side:
These images come from a navigable map series called Edifice created by the Open City collective of volunteers behind some of other Second City apps that Eric Jaffe has highlighted. But I love this one in particular for the way it is both ultra-specific – I found my childhood apartment – and surprisingly artistic. The negative space is also as compelling as the colored mosaic of buildings.