I haven’t got time to write a proper blog this week so I’m going to cheat and do one with lots of pictures. Sneaky eh? The pictures in question are all maps because, and it’s time I admitted this to the world, I’m a massive geek in many respects, but nothing can quite top my obsession with maps. I love them! I can spend hours staring at them, planning trips, imagining routes around them, stroking their contours……ahem. Anyway. This is a picture of all the atlases they have in the social sciences department at work…I was in nerdy map heaven!
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For someone who loves a good map then, I find the most recent one for the Madrid Metro particularly offensive. Here it is, minus a couple of the newest stations (click on the images to see a larger version):
Not only is it ugly and angular, it’s also misleading. Quickest way to Pinar de Chamartín is straight up on the brown line, right? Nope – that straight up is actually a massive meandering loop, which will get you to your destination sometime next century. Sevilla and Tirso de Molina are miles from Sol you say? Wrong again – even a slow-moving, pavement-hogging Spanish granny could walk that distance in about 2 minutes.
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Things would be a lot simpler if they ironed out all those nasty, jarring angles, wouldn’t they? Well, that’s exactly what Max Roberts did with his curvy version of the Madrid Metro map. Isn’t it pretty?
Unfortunately the Madrid city council, in their infinite wisdom, decided to go with the square version instead. Boo!
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Here is Max’s version of the London Underground, for those of you who’ve not seen it:
Again, a lot nicer to look at than the current tube map. But then maybe I just have a penchant for wiggly lines or something.
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Anyway, I’m such a map geek that when I was teaching, I decided to design a whole class around the Madrid Metro and other metro systems around the world. Here are some of my favourites!
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Moscow Metro. This map is a work of art and I’m told the museum-like metro stations themselves are beautiful too.
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Mexico City Metro. Mainly because I’ve been on it lots and it’s absolutely massive! Also, each station is represented with a pretty picture for city’s sizeable illiterate population.
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Glasgow Subway. For it’s simplicity.
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Tokyo Metro. Just because it’s possibly the most confusing thing I’ve ever seen.
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