Mapping Modernity

21. Noise Complaints

25 October 2023

Noise pollution Manhattan

Monochrome maps here locate and classify 40,412 noise complaints in Manhattan in 2012, which came in through the city’s complaint line. This thematic map by Brooklyn-based designer Karl Sluis is not based on a simplified topographic map like Google Maps. His visualisation of mass data creates an overview map of the “noisiest city in the world” using GPS.

K. Sluis, Manhattan Noise Complaints 2012, New York 2013. 86 x 140 cm.