An architectural illustrator has spent hundreds of hours
drawing a nostalgic map of Bordeaux, adding his own memories of the place as
well as other people’s.
Nicolas Coury, 31, first started with a map of Strasbourg
where he studied and worked for eight years.
He spent his evenings minutely drawing the map with details
of his adventures and escapades with friends and representations of things he
had seen.
“It was born out of nostalgia, out of a desire to remember
all the places that I have lived in and not forget the qualities of those
places. I want to capture the city’s essence, its quirks, all the little places
that were significant, and the little stories that I witnessed,” he told The Connexion.
“It was a completely personal project, but when I finished
the map I thought that others might like it, too. I opened it up to other
people, who contacted me and asked to add their memories.
“I am delighted that these people love their city and want
something similar for themselves, that these projects speak to them.”
After completing it, he contacted a printer and sold his
map, which you can still purchase today. In total, he had over 225 orders and
37 requests from the Strasbourg community.
Since moving to Bordeaux, he has recreated the project
there.
“With the Bordeaux map, it was a community project from the
start, so people could message me and tell me a little character or detail that
had meaning for them, and I would draw it in.
“For example, people wanted to add the spot where they
proposed to their wife; a grandfather asked me to draw him and his
granddaughter on a tandem bike that he would cycle her to school on everyday.
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“I found it really cute and touching to have access to these
moments of intimacy. It just made sense to add these memories, especially as
this project was all about nostalgia.
Mr Coury added intricate details to his maps, often reflecting memories people had shared with him
“It is subtle and discreet, and someone could easily look at
the map without noticing the little details. However, if you look closer you
might see a couple with a little heart over them and piece together that that
is where they met, and things like that. The subtlety is something I really
like.”
The deadline for sending in requests has now ended. In
total, Mr Coury made 235 little additions spread across his Bordeaux map.
He stopped counting the time it was taking when he reached
250 hours of drawing on the Strasbourg map, and 300 hours for Bordeaux,
although it was likely much more for both.
“To be honest, advertising and sending the maps probably
took twice the amount of time as drawing it did, but I am happy to do it.”
Despite his background in architecture, Mr Coury wanted to
avoid making overly realistic maps, opting instead for a more atmospheric
rendering, spending lots of time trying to capture the lights of the cities,
for example.
The style is similar to aquarelle, although the drawing was
all done on a graphic tablet so that he could work on it wherever he was.
“There is as much life as I could pack into these maps,” he
said.
“I often get lost looking at my map of Strasbourg,
reminiscing over past memories and wondering about the memories of others. It
can be entrancing!”
Those who are interested in purchasing the map can find
details here.
If you live in Biarritz, it is worth following Mr Coury as
he will likely draw one there, too.
