Topographic London: River and tributaries poster

Topographic London is a set of two posters focussing on London's underlying geographic features. Our everyday view of London is as a sprawling metropolis, with almost all the land occupied by buildings and shaped by man. These posters show London as revealed by Ordnance Survey's DTM (Digital Terrain Model) dataset, with the built environment stripped away to expose the lie of the land, showing how the Thames and its numerous tributaries have shaped the topography, creating ridges, hills and valleys. Much of central London is built on the river's vast flood plains – the shape of the loops of the river as it meanders across the plains are one of the distinguishing features of the city.

The Rivers and tributaries poster shows all of the small rivers, streams and brooks that feed into the Thames as it flows through London. Some tributaries such as the Effra and the Fleet were built over and are now trapped underground, some channelled into London's convoluted sewer system. Names such as River Peck and River Rom reveal the origin of names of some of London's well-known neighbourhoods.

2 colour poster screen-printed in metallic silver and blue on GF Smith Naturalis Absolute Smooth White 160gsm paper. Second edition printed by Harvey Lloyd Screens in a run of 40 posters, signed in pencil. Dimensions: 500 x 700mm