Hi! I'm Cristina Alexa, a geospatial developer based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. I build interactive maps and spatial data platforms that run in the browser: 3D terrain, globes, millions of features, and interfaces that people who never open a GIS package can still read.

From cartography to code

I studied geography in Timișoara and GIS at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, and started as a GIS analyst and digital cartographer at Micro Mapper in 2007. I liked spatial analysis, but I loved maps on the web, so I taught myself web mapping in my spare time.

In 2010 I joined PropertyShark, a real estate data platform, to work on web maps and spatial data. Over nine years I moved from GIS to data analysis and then to software development: large US real estate datasets, spatial databases, data pipelines, RESTful services and web mapping features in production.

By then I knew the part I cared about most was the visual one: making data explorable. In 2019 I started working independently as MapTheClouds, and taught myself 3D graphics in the browser with Three.js and WebGL.

What I do now

I work with organisations that have spatial data their users cannot see yet. Recent work includes a platform that makes the environmental footprint of 2 million companies explorable on a map, a 3D marine platform that puts reef survey data on the reef itself, and a 3D heritage map with 32 landmarks on the real city map. You can read about them on the Work page.

My usual stack is MapLibre and Mapbox GL, Three.js, React and TypeScript, with PMTiles, QGIS, GDAL and PostgreSQL behind them, hosted on Cloudflare.

How I work

I work B2B, on a defined project or as a contractor a few days a week, in the EU time zone. I like to start small, with a paid consultation or a short pilot, so we both know what the full project needs before committing to it.

Beyond client work

I keep a playground of map experiments and write about the ideas behind them on the blog. I completed the #100DayMapChallenge and had three works longlisted at the Information is Beautiful Awards 2023. When I'm not mapping, I'm usually on the motorbike, which is how the photo above happened.

Have spatial data your users cannot see yet? Write to me and tell me what you have in mind.

Why MapTheClouds? The clouds I was referring to are not 'point clouds', but the idea that you can (and must) approach any phenomenon surrounding us, no matter how impossible it may seem. Sky is the limit. ⛅