Stanford National Park

A countermap of Stanford University in the style of the National Park Service’s well-known National Parks maps. For HISTORY 95N: Maps in the Modern World.

Background

For my freshman introductory seminar, Maps in the Modern World, our class was required to create a “counter-map” of Stanford, a map that the administration would never produce and publish. My classmates all did something different: the party-scene at Stanford, cafe ratings, tour routes between tourists and incoming students, a comparison of crimes, trees and bikes. I was inspired by the greenery all around Stanford: in the middle of dense, urban development was this forest for students. And since so many tourists visit Stanford, I created a Stanford map in the style of the classic National Parks Service maps.

Original Write-up

Stanford is an enormous academic campus, but it’s also a respite from the monotony of suburban San Jose, a preserve for the golden Californian rolling hills, and a garden for intellectuals and intellectual discourse. After living here for a year, I’ve gotten used to the vast expanses of green grass for frisbee tossing and the wildly dressed students swimming (rightfully) in various fountains. Many students have also normalized such great natural spaces, and I think that most of us take it for granted, or simply don’t have enough time to use it properly. So, I think the first vision of this map is a reminder about all the things Stanford does have, despite its many shortcomings (that we always seem to complain about). It’s designed very much like a national park map so that students see that Stanford is the urban equivalent of Yosemite and the Great Smokey Mountains (and for that matter—the rural equivalent too; Stanford’s surprisingly uncrowded).

The second vision of the map is a that of a tourist guide, much like national parks make their maps in to souvenirs and informational pamphlets. As a student, all of campus seems like home, but as a visitor, many of these places are foreign and curious. And students make use of the place curiously indeed. From camping in front of Green Library to become the new tree to playing beer pong in Terman Fountain, the grand gardens that the administration and trustees build are used by students in every way imaginable. I wanted visitors to get a feel, a flavor for that kind of student activity.

I designed this map to be as similar to a national park as I could; space constraints and time constraints forced me to simplify the map and leave out lots of details and other great spaces on campus. If I could, I would have liked to zoom in central campus much more, and really capture the vibes and character of every nook and cranny. Alas, the map was my general attempt at balancing a general, broad view of Stanford, and a detailed, intimate view of places at Stanford.

I also really wanted to create a resource-style map of the uses of open space at Stanford (represented by the black icons throughout the map). I wanted to capture what students saw the space as: a study spot, a nap space, a spikeball court, a soccer field, a party. So, based on my personal observations, I plotted each major green space and sports court based on the major uses I saw on them. Of course, such a system for collecting data is far from perfect; I haven’t witnessed every student using even my home turf at Stern Field. And while I’d love to sit and observe the park land continually being used in interesting ways and reinvented, I don’t think the lack of complete accuracy takes away from the proposition my map makes: Stanford students use Stanford in whatever way they can.

There is a base layer done by hand on illustrator. The buildings are traced from a campus map and done in light grey to draw less attention to them. In contrast, the entire background is this light green to really emphasize the open space on campus; however, it is a bit misleading because most of the paths, hardscape, and parking on campus aren’t labeled. Even though such elements are missing, it still creates a sense of scale. Stanford is this huge campus, and we have taken such liberties to create a large, luscious campus.

Finally, I don’t think this map would be finished without some trail guides. So here are a couple easy trails on campus (all mileage is one-way):

  1. AOERC Trail (.17 mi): Start on the corner of Panama/Via Ortega facing the back wall of AOERC. Trail goes behind the gym and then crosses the street into the space in between professors’ backyards. This part is not paved. Nice get-away among the trees. On certain weekends, you may see a Wilderness First Aid class practicing their skills.

  2. South Gov Ave (.24 mi): Start Gov Ave/Campus Loop Dr facing down the road by the Golf Practice Range. Continue down the road until GoCo Housing Front Desk. This trail boasts plentiful trees, shade, a nice view of golf practice.

  3. The Oval Loop (.65 mi): Classic views of the gate to Stanford. Start entrance to Lathrop. Walk down Lasuen to the post office but make a sharp turn right at Lasuen/Serra into the East Oval Grove. Walk to Oval, then loop around the oval where you should see a paved path to the Old Chem Building. Continue down this path, then make a slight left down West Oval Grove. Once at Lomita/Serra, turn left to Serra for a grand view of Main Quad. Turn left at Lasuen, end up back a Lathrop.

Downloads

Stanford National Park
Stanford Building Outlines (Adobe Illustrator)

Also see

Karen Wigen
Stanford Counter Atlas Fall 2018
Stanford Cartographic Society

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