blog




  • Essay / The History of the London Underground

    Before Charles Tyson, Yerkes was an American financier who in 1900 established the Underground Electric Railways Company of London to control the District Railway. Yerkes wanted to be involved in the development of London's underground railway system and worked to unify it. Although he died in 1905 before any of his works were completed, his ideas were implemented by his successors when they were purchased together on a single card. The first combined map of London's underground lines began to be published for passengers in 1906, before this each line had its own separate map. The following year, UERL, Central London, Metropolitan, Great Northern & City and City & South London Railways agreed to create the first all-inclusive card, which would combine their companies' lines. Some of these companies were in a precarious financial situation and so in 1907 they banded together to create a complete system of underground railways under the name "Underground". As Jackson & Croome (1964, p. 132 cited in Merrill, 2013, p. 247) point out, a new map was designed in 1908 to “educate the public about the increasing integration of the network. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The map depicted the network almost in its entirety.” This map clearly laid the foundation for future designs, introducing color for the first time, but it also suffered from attempts to reproduce the route (making it harder to read than a geometric line) and also distorted the metropolitan line to make room for color. key (Garland, 1994, p. 8). Another company, Waterloo & City, decided not to join the subway, even though its line appeared on several maps between 1908 and 1913. All-inclusive maps made it easier for travelers to navigate rail routes. However, these early maps were designed to be geographically accurate and although it was easier to have multiple routes on a single map, there were issues with clarity, which would get worse as new lines were added. added. Frank Pick was a transportation administrator who spent years working with trains. In 1912 he became commercial director of the London Electric Underground Railway (UERL) and was celebrated as the leading figure responsible for its strong corporate identity. The choice was very interested in design and aimed to introduce a consistent look in advertising and lettering, as he was unhappy with the diversity and endless variety of fonts used in the system. In 1915, he rethought the logo as the heart of a successful corporate identity. In 1915, Pick had employed Johnston to design a newly simplified typeface. Sans Serif illustrates the virtues of modern design. These were refined, efficient qualities that Pick wanted to see imposed on the entire system. The choice was very careful to present the underground system as rational, scientific and efficient in its management. One of the ways he tried to achieve this was through the use of subway station architecture. He chose Charles Holden to design the new extension stations, notably on the Piccadilly and Central lines. Holden's approach was to use a kind of architecture that would be considered rational and modern – a kind of European modernism. He realized, or was instructed, that the stations had to be recognizable as belonging to the same species. If we saw a metro station, it should..