Another Sculptural Lake Map (or: the Reason I Haven't Been Working on This Book)

I recently finished a unique and challenging map design project for the Wisconsin Hoofers, the outdoor clubs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It's another sculptural map of lake depth- this time featuring Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. 

The result is this three-dimensional installation with a magnetic surface, allowing anyone to change the features on the map. Labels can be added to show important features or completely stripped off for a more minimalist presentation. 

Unlike my Bathymetric Book of Crater Lake, this piece greatly exaggerates Lake Mendota's depth relative to its surface area.  Lake Mendota is over 200 square miles in surface area but reaches only about 83 feet at its deepest. 

Just after the map was installed on the wall: 

Here's an example of the map with labels added: 

Further reading about this project: 

WOW! I was surprised and excited to be featured on Make magazine's website in this post  posted June 16, 2014

This wonderful blog post about the finished product from the Wisconsin Union newsletter, Terrace Views posted June 16, 2014

This blog post from UW Communications and the UW-Madison Geography Department news  posted June 24, 2014

My blog post about the completed project and the design choices that shaped it, posted to the University of Wisconsin Cartography Lab blog. posted May 27, 2014

My blog post about the process of building the map, also posted to the UW Cartography Lab blog.   posted May 19, 2014

This blog post from the Wisconsin Union, which describes the project at an early stage in the building process. It includes several photos of our initial work with the CNC router, cutting the map pieces out of stock material.  posted Dec 2, 2013

This blog post by fellow Geography Department alum Melanie McCalmont, who wrote a book about the relief maps in Science Hall!  posted Nov 25, 2016