AuthaGraphic Map: The most accurate yet?
Because of the inevitable distortions involved in converting our spherical earth to a flat map, global projections can be quite misleading in the representation of geographic area and shape. This problem is particularly true of such classic projections as the Mercator, which exaggerates the size of the high northern latitudes, such as Greenland, Russia, and Canada.
There have been numerous attempts to correct this problem ever since, but a new map by Tokyo-based artist and architect Hajime Narukawa is definitely helpful. Named the AuthaGraphic map, this projection is both scientifically accurate and aesthetically appealing. In fact, it has been so well received that it was just awarded Japan’s prestigious Good Design Grand Award.
The secret to its accuracy is versatility -- the map can be quickly converted from flat map to sphere. No matter what form this map takes, from a conventional, flat rectangle shape to a 3D-folded structure – one that can be tessellated without visible seams – the countries and continents remain proportional to each other, including the often neglected Antarctica.
My main reservation to the accolades above is that brilliant futurist Buckminster Fuller (1895 - 1983) already pioneered a very similar projection, which he called the “Dymaxion Map.” The Dymaxion projection shows Earth's continents with minimum distortion when projected or printed on a flat surface.
Fuller’s 1954 version, made with cartographer Shoji Sadao, sometimes called the Airocean World Map, used a modified but mostly regular icosahedron as the base for the projection, which is the version most commonly cited today. This version depicts the Earth's continents as "one island" of nearly contiguous land masses.
While the AuthaGraphic is useful, it owes a big intellectual debt to the prior Dymaxion Map of Fuller, and his Airocean World Map with Shoji Sadao.
