I was asked to create a panel for the NACIS 2021 map quilt, and assigned a section of Oklahoma City. I’d recently been tinkering with Arduino circuitry, so my grid-like suburban corner of OKC immediately reminded me of a circuit board. I also wanted to highlight Oklahoma City’s tech industry and significant role in the growing Silicon Prairie.
On my map quilt square, buildings from OpenStreetMap became components, classified by size. I made the smallest buildings connector holes and lumps of solder. Medium-sized buildings became common components like capacitors and resistors, and the largest buildings became unique components like a speaker and inductor. To get the component images, I found 3D models of each so I could capture the perfect overhead angle.
Here’s my square as part of the whole quilt, showcasing the work of several excellent cartographers.
