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HARRY BECK AND THE LONDON TUBE MAP

(29 January- 27 March 2011)

The familiar London tube map, which is 80 years old this year, was the creation of Harry Beck (1902- 1974), who lived in Finchley. (There are memorial plaques in his honour at Finchley Central Station and on his house in Courthouse Road N12.)

There were, of course, maps of the London underground system before Beck’s, but these aimed to be topographically correct: in other words they attempted to reflect the actual distances between stations, so that the names of the dense cluster of stations of central London were hard to decipher. As the tube system expanded these problems became more acute. Beck’s genius was in simplification: his design, reputedly based on an electrical wiring diagram, dispensed with realism in favour of readability.

When Beck submitted his first design to Frank Pick (himself a local- Hampstead Garden Suburb- resident) at London Underground it was considered too radical, but in its trial run the map proved an immediate success, and although Beck’s design was altered over the years- much to Beck’s displeasure- the fundamental concept remains. Moreover, Beck’s creation has influenced the maps of underground railways in cities across the world.

In 2006, visitors to the Design Museum chose Beck’s map as their second favourite British design of the 20th century (the first choice was Concorde). The word ‘iconic’ is overused, but Beck’s map is just that- ‘iconic’: recognized and revered by all.

The exhibition is based on a local private collection and traces the development of the London Underground map from the 19th Century to the present day.

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