Project: 1956 Paris Métro Map Digital Recreation
A digital recreation of one of my absolute favourite vintage transit maps, with a couple of bonus variants at the end of the post!
All posts filed under: Historical Maps
Work in Progress: Vectorization of a 1956 Paris Metro Map
Here’s a sneak peek at a little weekend project… coming along nicely, I must say! I’m particularly pleased with the all-vector halftone dots, which have a lovely organic feeling to them that suit the original source material nicely. More soon!
Historical Diagram: Piccadilly Circus Tube Station by Renzo Picasso, 1929
We all know that I love a good cutaway diagram, and this example – drawn by Italian architect and urban designer, Renzo Picasso (no relation) – is just superb. Drawn in 1929, coinciding with the opening of Charles Holden’s sub-surface circular booking hall which replaced the original 1906 above-ground Leslie Green-designed station building. The unusual perspective, halfway between the platform level and the (invisible) roads above, permits a wonderful level of clarity in the drawing. […]
Historical Map: Hong Kong MTR “Modified Initial System”, c. 1978
Here’s a fantastic old map of the first segment of Hong Kong’s now extensive rapid transit system. The original source dates the map to 1978, which seems reasonable to me – the route was well under construction at that time, with the segment from Kwun Tong to Shek Kip Mei opening in October 1979. The route was extended to Tim Sha Tsui in December of that year, and the initial section was completed in February […]
Historical Map: New York “New Subway Routes” Map, 1967
the-nycta-project: “New Subway Routes” Map Possibly 1967? Yes, this is the 1967 “New Subway Routes” map produced by the New York Transit Authority, designer unknown. The diagram was produced to show only the eight routes that had been changed with the opening of the tunnel under Chrystie Street. It’s an interesting piece because it was produced some three years before even the first draft Unimark/Massimo Vignelli diagram, but has seemingly been influenced by his approach to […]
Historical Map: Polish Airlines LOT Route Map, 1939
An absolutely phenomenal airline route diagram from 1939, which is both map and schedule in one. The thicker route lines represent the routes that belong to Polish Airlines LOT – one of the oldest continually operating airlines in Europe; they still use the beautiful flying crane logo today – with thinner route lines representing partner or connecting airlines. Red lines show daily service, black lines show weekday or irregular service. The departure and arrival times […]
Historical Map: Cutaway View of Berlin’s Hermannplatz U-Bahn Station, c. 1929
Here’s a lovely cutaway view of Hermannplatz station, at the intersection of what is now U7 (the lower platform here, running east-west) and U8 (the platform above, running north-south). The map also shows the pedestrian tunnels that connected the station directly with the basement of the monumental Karstadt department store, then one of the largest in the world. However – probably for reasons of clarity – the diagram places the entrance in the first basement […]
Historical Map: City of Honolulu, Hawaii showing Streetcar and Bus Routes, 1929
From the “learn something new every day” files – I certainly had no idea that Honolulu had a relatively extensive electric streetcar network (6 streetcar lines plus three bus routes) way back in 1929! Source: Kanalu Chock/Flickr – link no longer active
Historical Map: Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, c. 1950-1953
A great old map promoting the use of the H&M tubes (now known as PATH) for rapid access to Manhattan and beyond (Ebbets Field, Coney Island!). Although undated at the original source of the map, it’s pretty easy to narrow it down to sometime between 1950 and 1953 due to the presence of the 3rd Avenue Elevated in Manhattan. As shown, it no longer goes to South Ferry (closed 1950), but still continues to City […]
Boston MBTA Pocket Subway Map Cover, 1989
“The ‘T’: One of Boston’s Last Great Bargains” proclaims this neat little pop-arty pocket map cover. Five of the six colours used in the design make sense (representing the four lines of the “T” plus purple for commuter rail), but what’s the yellow for? Making up the numbers in the days before the Silver Line, it seems. EDIT: My readers are awesome! Thanks to those who have pointed out that yellow was (and still kind of […]