Cultural Cartography of Bronzeville

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Studio Project

Overview


There is an enormous amount of information to assist with the recovery of Bronzeville across its various stages of development and change.  This data exists in the maps of the Chicago School of Sociology, in works of fiction and poetry, in collections of street photography, in the archives of famous residents, in the myriad histories that have been written about its enormous contributions to American culture, in the testimonies of living memory collected by researched like Timuel Black, in interviews with Studs Terkel and the recordings of Alan Lomax, in the archives of historic newspapers like the Chicago Defender or Chicago Bee, and in the special collections of the University of Chicago, the Chicago Public Library, and institutions across the United States and Europe.

There are also abundant techniques and technologies for producing visualizations.   Some involve the disciplinary conventions of urban analysis, planning, urban design, landscape and architectural practice.  Some involve the discipline of cartography, psychogeophy, cognitive mapping.  Some relate to the inventions of 20th Century and contemporary artists.

However, attempts to translate raw data about Bronzeville (which is often structural) into visualizations that communicate and interpret its history are fairly limited.  

This project invites students to make some attempts.  

Each step in the following process relates to one Studio Session, per the course Schedule.

Phase 1: Research and Data Collection


 2 : Define the Area of Interest

Assignment

Decide the scope of your mapping project. You must choose either:
  1. A geographical zone (e.g., a neighborhood, park, district, region).  It should be no less than 6 blocks long, and no longer than 12.   It can be continuous, to recover the ambience of a street in a zone of heightened cultural activity.  
  2. A thematic subject (e.g., music, fine art, poetry/prose, red-lining, social venues, residences of notable figures). This is likely to be discontinuous  connecting sites spread across a larger territory. 

Tasks

  • Write a one-page project description outlining your choice and why it matters.
  • Identify the communities, histories, or themes that your project seeks to illuminate.
  • Create a preliminary list of at least three guiding questions your map should help answer.

Deliverable

One-page project proposal.

 3 : Develop a Bibliography

Assignment

Assemble a bibliography of at least 6–10 texts relevant to your chosen project scope.

Tasks

  • Search for primary and secondary sources: books, articles, reports, archives, oral histories, poems, essays.
  • Record full bibliographic citations (Chicago style preferred).
  • Write one to two sentences per source explaining its potential contribution to your map.

Deliverable

Annotated bibliography (minimum six sources).
4 : Extract Data

Assignment

Transform your bibliography into mappable data.

Tasks

  • Carefully read your sources. Identify and record references to places, addresses, or regions.
  • Enter this information into a spreadsheet with the following columns:
    • Address/place name
    • Latitude & longitude
    • Source text + citation
    • Annotation (why this site is significant)
  • Aim to collect at least 10–15 entries.

Deliverable

Spreadsheet of locations with full metadata.
5 : Plot Data (Mid-Quarter Review)

Assignment

Test the clarity and coherence of your data.

Tasks

  • Import your spreadsheet into QGIS (or other mapping software).
  • Generate a basic map displaying all sites.
  • Write a 250-word interpretive statement that answers:
    • What story is revealed by this data?
    • Why does it matter?
    • What gaps or contradictions emerge?

Deliverables

  • Mapped dataset + 250-word interpretive text.
  • And, from prior weeks:
            Spreadsheet of laoctions with full metadata
            Annotated bibliography
           Project proposal    

Phase 2: Cartographic Display


6 : Experiments in the Craft of Maps

Assignment

Investigate the expressive power of cartographic technique.

Tasks

  • Select one emblematic region of your data.
  • Map it in five distinct ways, each in a 6” × 6” square.
  • Vary: substrate (paper/digital/hybrid), graphic legend, symbols, color, scale, materiality.
  • Each experiment should deliberately test how materials and techniques convey meaning.

Deliverable

Five 6” × 6” experimental maps.
7 : First Prototype

Assignment

Select one experiment to expand.

Tasks

  • Choose the cartographic method that best balances clarity and narrative force.
  • Produce a larger prototype map applying this approach across your entire dataset.
  • Focus on refining symbols, legends, and material qualities.

Deliverable

Prototype of the full map.
From prior weeks:
    Five 6” × 6” experimental maps.
8 : Critique / Experiments in Refinement

Assignment

Critically assess the prototype from the prior week.

Tasks
Write a 250-word evaluation.  Consider:

  • What do the materials, techniques, and questions of craft enable?
  • What do they suppress?
  • What questions of distortions arise?
  • How might you adjust to better honor both data and significance of the story?
  • Redraw the map or generate a minimum of 3 new 6-in square (per week 6) or similar studies to refine the technique.

Deliverable

Prototype of the full map or refinement studies.
From prior weeks:
    Prior Prototypes
    Five 6” × 6” experimental maps.
© Andrew SchachmanThe University of Chicago ARCH 24206 ENST 24206 AMER 24206 CHST 24206 CEGU 24206