Sophie Hochhaeusl: Otto Neurath - Mapping the City as Social Fact?

Abstract. Architects are commonly trained to craft two types of maps: representational ones, and those that serve as heuristic devices for design thinking. The latter make obvious by means of drawing aspects of space that could not have been preconceived. The Austrian philosopher and economist, Otto Neurath (1882 – 1945), was famous for his engagement with representational maps. He revolutionized the discipline of chart making by finding a way to create picture statistics and quantitative maps that were accessible to a larger public. In Sophie Hochhäusls paper however, she will argue that Otto Neurath’s map “City Planning” served not only as one of the first well-accessible socio-political maps of a city, but that it was in effect also a heuristic device.