Toronto's Tung Studio produce gorgeous abstract maps of their home city

In his terrific biography of London, Peter Ackroyd talks about the futility of trying to capture the essence of a complex, chaotic city in a map, however painstakingly-detailed its composition. Cities are more than a collection of streets and stations, and once we accept this then map-making becomes something much more interesting, as we are freed from traditional conventions of how and why maps are put together.

Tung Studio decided to make their own maps of their home city of Toronto, reimagining the neighbourhoods as “vibrant, quilt-like mosaics.” These were then distributed to selected people across the city as part of a promotional drive for the studio when it was founded by Emily Tu and Edmond Ng last year.

Not only beautifully produced, the maps are also interesting abstract celebrations of the city, simplified but still recognisable.