#manuel lima

[archivist-dragonfly]

Book 614

The Book of Circles: Visualizing Spheres of Knowledge

Manuel Lima

Princeton Architectural Press 2017

Information—and especially in this modern age surrounded by complex data systems—is tricky. The sheer volume of the information being generated far outweighs our ability to understand it which, when translating data into easy-to-digest visuals, makes it exceptionally easy to manipulate to support any bias one wishes. How then should we best visualize information such that it announces a claim at a glance yet also faithfully represents its truth under scrutiny? I don’t really know, though I’m sure it depends on the data. However, for your consideration, I present the humble circle. Whether organizing Nintendo games, clay Sumerian tokens, celestial charts, or a visual analysis of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, while circles may not be the most accurate way to display data, it may very well be the prettiest.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Book of Circles | Author: Manuel Lima | Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press (2017)

[parisjohanna]

Manuel Lima

[mcad-library]

NEW ARRIVAL AT THE MCAD LIBRARY

THE BOOK OF CIRCLES: VISUALIZING SPHERES OF KNOWLEDGE by MANUEL LIMA

Do you enjoy sorting visual data? Does the circular categorization of weird, niche factoids hold a special place in your heart next to a well-buried pocket protector and a ball of lint? We’ve talked about our collection of info-vis books before - honestly, every time we get a new one I’m hard pressed not to write a new review. However, it’s seldom that we receive such fact-packed gems as Manuel Lima’s The Book of Circles.

A Portuguese-born designer, author, lecturer, and researcher, Lima was once described by his peers as “the man who turns data into art.” In his Book of Circles, we are taken on a similar visual journey to his earlier work, the Book of Trees. Each chapter is separated into type of visualization, resulting in a very eclectic sorting of pairs. You will find musical scores set next to chromosome charts, spiraling clay glyphs next to board games from the 1800s, and family trees of ancient Carribbean lizards next to a listing of beers by geographic provenance. This is the third addition of his work into the library system, the first two being The Book of Trees and Visual Complexity. If you’re interested in more mapping of complex networks, I’d recommend tuning in to Lima’s website: http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/

[archivist-dragonfly]

Book 613

The Book of Trees: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge

Manuel Lima

Princeton Architectural Press 2014

So, way back on Book 427, I wrote about Manuel Lima’s book Visual Complexity. Well, I like it so much I decided to get two other books by him. Also, Princeton Architectural Press is one of my favorite publishers, so it didn’t take much convincing. [Side note: Princeton Architectural Press, despite the name, doesn’t publish just books about architecture. Mostly, their books focus on design and visual culture, and they are all really beautifully done.] In ten chapters on different forms of informational trees (figurative, vertical, horizontal, multidirectional, radial, hyperbolic, rectangular, voronoi, circular, sunbursts, and icicle) from Assyrian sacred tree reliefs (c. 865 BC) to 21st century digital trees, this book presents nearly 200 gorgeous examples of branching informational diagrams. Highlights include: medieval classifications of virtues and vices, an organizational chart of the Manhattan Project, and a family tree of the X-Men.

[parisjohanna]

Manuel Lima

[parisjohanna]

Manuel Lima

[parisjohanna]

Manuel Lima