Hasta La Gadget!

You know the drill: You’re on vacation, wandering a strange but beautiful city, and you need to take a look at the map. You pull it out, signifying your tourist status with the huge paper flag, while at the same time you struggle to find your spot as the wind snaps an edge from your hands. Finally you orient yourself and, as you try to fold up the map, it tears, ripping in two. You start looking for a store that sells Scotch tape.

This ugly scene could have been avoided if only you had bought the Crumpled City, a map that is meant to be screwed up in a ball like paper from the typewriter of a frustrated writer in old movie montage sequences. It is fashioned from a tough, waterproof material that won’t rip or tear, and can be scrunched and unscrunched to show the correct spot as you move around the city.

Designed by Emanuele Pizzolorusso from Milan, the maps are available for London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and New York. Fully flattened, they measure 87×58cm, or 34 x 23-inches, and should you not want to follow the designer’s advice to “just screw it up, stuff it back into your pocket, and carry on.” you can also wad it back into its accompanying bag.

For bonus stealthy-tourist points, you should smear it with a little ketchup and keep it in a fast-food takeaway bag. €12, or $16.

Crumpled City product page [Palomarweb. Thanks, Emanuele!]

See Also:

• A Heads-Up Map Display for iPhone-Using Bicyclists
• Technoporn: Maps
• Ingenious Zoomable Paper Map