Abstract

Through a bibliographic and ethnographic approach to four Map Rooms or Map Collections in Santiago, Chile, we discuss the visibilization of cartographic material. We study the following Map Rooms: Mapoteca, Archivo Nacional; Mapoteca, Biblioteca Nacional, Mapoteca, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad de Chile; and Mapoteca, Instituto Geográfico Militar. According to our undersanding, this visibilization is informed by a particular understanding of the nature of maps as well as by the material mediations involved in the ways maps are presented to the their public. Thus Map Rooms off er specific cartographic landscapes to those who consult them, as maps appear to the public in specific configurations of figure, background and framing.