Justin Wong

Justin Wong

Upon comparing my sketch with the official campus map, I was pleasantly surprised by its (relative) accuracy - perhaps a sign that, as a senior, I've been around here too long. There are a few things, however, that I noted based on my sketch. One is how the geography of campus (and of Boston in general) is so defined by the curvature of the Charles River. The river skews everything, and since Harvard's campus is located on a bend in the river, certain things are closer than they appear, and some farther. I failed to represent this very well in my map; for instance, some Houses along the river that appear in a straight line are not that way in real life. The fact that the city is laid out in relation to the river also makes it difficult to tell where the cardinal directions are. Normally, when I spend enough time in a place, I know where north, south, east, and west are, but because of the river, I have to re-orient myself, and have never quite been able to get my bearings in Boston. Another thing that was difficult to portray on the map were the streets of Harvard Square. While much of the Square is laid out in a rough grid, the one-way streets, strange intersections, traffic circles (like near the T stop), and other strange features made it difficult to draw an accurate map.