Beck's representation of London's underground system: map or diagram?

Abstract

Prior to 1932, maps provided by London Transport clung closely to the geography above ground, irrespective of the fact that the system being represented was a different geography altogether. In 1931, Electrical Draughtsman, Harry Beck designed a completely new representation of the Underground, which ignored the geography aboveground and concentrated on 'mapping' the lines, stations and interchanges. His design was tested by London Transport in 1932, with a trial print run. It was an immediate success! By distorting geography Beck made the product more usable and an effective communicator about how to move about (under) London. Quite recently, many from the design community have questioned whether Beck's representation of London's underground rail system is a map or a diagram. The majority of articles on this topic come from the design community, and they generally support the view that Beck's product is a diagram, rather than a map. Very little comment on this debate comes from the cartographic community. This paper considers, from a cartographic perspective, whether Beck's representation of the London Underground is in fact a map. It provides the results of a survey, which canvassed the international cartography and design community about whether Beck's representation is a 'map' or a 'diagram'. The contribution is unashamedly made from the viewpoint of a cartographer. However, the analysis has been made in a rigorous and unbiased manner. It is hoped that this contribution provides one cartographic view of the debate.

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