Design Classics, The London Underground Map

October 16th, 2008 link to (permalink)

There was a period, between the wars, when European refugees like Gropius stopped in Britain. This stimulated a brief flourishing of modernism resulting in the design aesthetic of London public transport, from the Routemaster bus (the only piece of British ‘architecture’ that Corbusier liked) to moderne Tube stations such as Arnos Grove.

But the pinnacle of London Transport’s modernist design was the Tube map which rearranged distances to produce a supremely navigable schematic diagram that is little changed today. (I have been looking for this documentary for ages).

tags: architecture

8 responses so far »

Ehud : Oct 16, 2008 at 9:57 pm

Now this is why we love Smashing Telly.
NYC : Oct 18, 2008 at 4:53 pm

GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mistergach : Oct 19, 2008 at 4:32 am

Excellent! Thanks a lot.
Nappies : Oct 20, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Oh this is great TV, get this guy on the BBC now!
titan : Oct 24, 2008 at 12:59 am

lovely spotlight, but did anyone else notice the steady increase in (print) registration throughout versions of the map as well? The humble observations of a print designer.
Camila Bossolan : Nov 7, 2008 at 11:56 am

It is really extraordinary lucid and it is almost impossible to improve it! It’s an amazing work!!!
Sophie Williams : Nov 24, 2008 at 11:26 am

I loved this documentry and it was very helpful for my university assignment. The only thing I am missing is a date when this documentry was aired… can anybody help?
Martin Kenny : Nov 28, 2008 at 5:27 am

Good stuff

@Sophie Williams: The copyright date at the end of the programme is 1987, and according to the IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989634/), the original air-date was 29 June 1987.