World maps of time zones

The world map series came out of a fascination with a phenomenon called the leap second. A leap second is a measuring unit that serves as a buffer in the metric system in order to avoid that the earth’s rotation gets out of sync with the way humans measure time. The rotating earth is the only “clock” that keeps time exactly and the leap second keeps our measuring systems in sync with the earth; a function which reminds that the metric system on which architecture builds is made and not essentially given. For the same reason one might consider building on alternative ways of measuring or building alternative images of the world.

Dissection
In the first maps the different layers of the initial world map of time zones were taken apart, in that way separating the projective system used to describe space from the counting system used to describe time metaphorically speaking. Then this was held together with another human made time measuring system, the so-called @-time, which follows the idea that since the Internet is a “virtual place” without geography there is no need for geographical time zones adapted to dayspring and nightfall. Hence, as opposed to the clock time which prioritizes that 8 o’clock in the evening is always evening throughout the world the @-time prioritizes that it is 8 o’clock at the same time all over the world.

Synchronization (45 degrees rotation)
I made a translator map with rotating parts that could translate between the clock time and the @-time. I cut the initial world map of time zones up into clusters of countries that belong to the same time zone, and by means of a 45 degrees rotation in orthogonal drawing space the translator map could synchronize between clock time and @-time and helps you figure out when, for instance, to call a friend on the other side of the earth. It requires two moves to extract information: one rotation for one’s own location and one rotation for the location you want to compare with.
However, besides having a semi-practical function the rotating part generated new drawings, new world maps, which reminded me of the fact that the world has not always looked as it does today.

 

 

 

Virtual Pangaea (90 degrees rotation)
The Pangaea hypothesis by Alfred Wegener says that once all the land on earth was one coherent mass. The last series of maps is a utopian operation which creates a ‘Virtual Pangaea’, where time is master and space is slave.