In a completely digital age, the value and novelty of hand-crafted items has risen tremendously. Anthony's hand-drawn cartography of Savannah, GA paints a historical and technical portrait of the city that wouldn't typically come to mind when walking through the squares.
"As digital mapping tools have taken over the one-time art of mapping the urban form and footprint of great cities, much of the humanity and beauty that was inherent in the common understanding of the layout of cities has been lost. in Savannah, the art of drawing beautiful maps of the city that not only contained a wealth of technical information, but a strong sense of place, slowly disappeared during the middle of the 20th century.
These images of Savannah's Wards seek to create a contemporary record of Savannah, while capturing the richness of scale, rhythm, and variety of the built footprint within the city's classically rational plan. The beauty of the city is expressed in the craft of the maps, a series of unique plates, hand-drawn using traditional drafting techniques, and printed on archival media.
Anthony has currently completed Telfair Square and Bull Street, with plans to complete the other 23 squares.
"Anthony Cissell is a Savannah based urban designer. Trained in architecture, he has focused his research and practice on the development of sustainable urbanism and civic growth, inspired by Savannah's internationally recognized model of urban design. His work includes civic design and master planning, emphasizing historic research, urban analysis, and community-wide engagement. Interested in leaving a legacy of Savannah's urban form for future generations, Anthony began drawing plates of Savannah's Wards as an on-going pursuit in 2012."
Find the whole collection here. As new pieces are finished we'll be adding them to that page.
