Building Physical Maps…with LEGO
By: Alexander W
Tags: New Zealand, Lego, Maps, Data Visualization, Data Physicalization

In the beginning of 2020 I decided to attempt using LEGO bricks as a map-building material for a map of Aotearoa (New Zealand). (I wrote about the full process and the technical details and challenges in my blog.) Initially it was “just a cool project,” but in the process of building it, I did learn a few things about maps, how we perceive and process spatial information, and where traditional paper maps excel over three dimensional models and vice versa.

There are at least three different “models” that are commonly applied to geography and spatial positioning. They are:

The real world — the actual location of cities, orientation of roads, etc. Maps — a representation of the real world (e.g., for navigation) Mental models — how you think about a country or a city when you don’t have a map available

These three models often differ quite significantly from each other. Maps have the inherent problem that representing the surface of a sphere in a two-dimensional space is not possible without distortion. Mental models are an even more significant simplification of the real world or a map, as Aris Venetikidis describes nicely in this TED talk.

Aris Venetikidis’ TED Talk: Making sense of maps

In our mental models, we assume streets to be straight and intersections to be 90 degrees. Since that’s rarely ever the case, it explains why, when I look at a map, I am always surprised to see how streets are oriented or geographic features positioned. Very rarely does this orientation align with how I pictured that in my mind.

But, orientation and position are not the only aspects to consider when it comes to maps. We live in a three-dimensional world, but representing this in a two-dimensional map ignores one dimension. To address this limitation, mapmakers usually use colour and/or elevation lines to encode height (the third dimension) on a map. Most people are probably used to seeing mountains in brown or grey and regions closer to the coast in green or yellow, but interpreting elevation lines requires a lot more knowledge and abstract thinking and, even then, I find it difficult without some practise. For me, neither of these techniques actually provides enough information to form an accurate mental image of a place, one were I can confidently say that I have an realistic idea what a landscape looks like. When colour is used, it often blends visually into a big brown blob, maybe with some white peaks here and there and elevation lines are useful for visualising detail in a small area, but fail to provide an overview of the terrain of a whole country.

3D relief map of the Auckland Harbour — Picture by Auckland Council

The best option is to represent elevation with elevation — to create a three-dimensional map that offers a more realistic impression of a mountain range, for example. You might have seen some of these in museums, or maybe at a lookout where it describes the surrounding landscape, but how would you go about building one yourself?

While three dimensional maps seem to have obvious advantages, they also come with problems. Two-dimensional maps are easy to obtain with OpenStreetMap and Google Maps just a click away. Paper copies are virtually free when you just print out whatever you need. For a three-dimensional map, however, you need a structure or material that can sustain the third dimension. You need to acquire the material — which might come at a cost. You need a place to store it. And, they come with an additional major drawback. They are unusually permanent, since you cannot roll or fold a three-dimensional structure.

In my case, LEGO seemed like a good overall compromise: using it is very simple, it is not too difficult to come by, and I can either build something else or resell it if I don’t like it any longer. The actual construction was the easiest part of this project; however, planning took roughly 90 percent of the time. Getting the elevation data, preparing it in QGIS, building a virtual model, and ordering the bricks was actually the hard part. Each of these tasks took significantly longer than building it (after all, I had years of training in building LEGO when I was younger).

After building the map and having it hanging on my living room wall, I can say that my effort paid off. Beyond the obvious benefits of having an awesome conversation starter and the coolness-factor of a huge LEGO map, the resulting map continues to reveal novel details about New Zealand geography. Certainly, this stems from my ability to review the map every day.

On the left you can get a rough idea of how my initial mental model of New Zealand looked like. At the project’s outset, I envisioned a straight line from the northern tip, through Auckland and Wellington, towards the southern tip of the country. A lot of the coastline was straight and there were only three mountains on Te Ika-a-Māui (the North Island), while Te Waipounamu (the South Island) was nearly exclusively alpine.