The Urban Imaginarium

05/03/2016

05/03/2016

San Francisco re-emerges disguised as a Royal Park... Another day in the World of the Urban Imaginarium. Next up - a chance to visualise the temples of Chiang Mai...

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco. The sun glimmered through the bare trees, the fresh Spring grass sprung underfo…

05/02/2016

An amazing map of London...

Examine the hand-drawn detail close-up.

03/20/2016

Check out where The Urban Imaginarium has been so far...

Urban Imaginarium

02/29/2016

For anyone interested in alternative exploration, to see if we can find one city within another city...

Explore the world around you as if it's somewhere else.
"There is always such beauty for those who

02/27/2016

Thank you to everyone who submitted a city! I love the range of places, and suggestions and memories of each place - giving me itchy feet!

The Challenge:
To explore 31 cities by the end of September. The catch: I'll be exploring them through the medium of London.

The Rules:
- Pick a city name out of a hat.
- Use map of chosen city to identify a route – taking in the places suggested by the proposer, or use the first walking tour in the Lonely Planet city guide.
- Find out about the chosen city, to fully appreciate the journey.
- Use Google Maps to identify the centre of the chosen city.
- Stick a pin in a map of London; use this as the centre of the chosen city.
- Dress as if you were travelling in your chosen location (with London weather...)
- Use chosen city map to navigate the route. Detours may be taken based on anything that looks interesting on the map
- Record the journey - sights, smells, sounds, people, atmosphere, buildings, streetscape.
- Create a piece for each journey, each city - a map, an illustration, a story.

The Cities:
Oaxaca
Istanbul
Marseilles
Buenos Aires
Glasgow
San Miguel de Allende
Vancouver
Barcelona
Isfahan
Merrakeck
Durham
Edinburgh
Berlin
Sydney
Memphis
Reykjavik
Auckland
Amsterdam
Kathmandu
New York
Hong Kong
San Francisco
Tokyo
Stockholm
York
Chiang Ma
Kyoto
Oban
Venice
Sienna
Montreal
(I've taken the first suggestion where people have given options...)

The Reasons:
- I love maps, and I love the idea of subverting maps and playing with them. I'm looking forward to taking routes through London that aren't defined by London.
- I'd love to have have a few people join in, and help re-create the world at home.
- I don't have the time or money to travel far right now, but that's no reason to stay home. Imagination is free!
- What do we travel for? Why do we forget what we have on our doorstep?
- I'd like to have another creative challenge.
- It should be fun!

I'll be putting the dates up if anyone wants to join me in travelling the world from here!

First city walk: 2:30pm Saturday 5th March.