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PLP Architecture conceives of automated, underground "CarTube" for London

2016-12-08T12:45:00-05:00

Imagine driving into London not on surface streets, but rather in an underground tube with automated, moving tracks designed specifically for electric cars. Like a kind of subterranean track-laden ferry, which drivers would be able to individually join and exit at numerous points, this "CarTube" concept is the work of Lars Hesselgren's research team at PLP Architecture.

Although the proposal uses London as a starting point, the firm isn't limiting it to the U.K., as this Guardian article notes:

If the project’s goal is to reduce street-level congestion, then is a city like London (which already has an extensive public transport system and congestion charge) its prime target? “London is our case study, but chances are it will get built somewhere else where people are desperate for a solution,” Hesselgren says, listing Mexico City, Delhi, Jakarta and Mumbai as the sorts of gridlock-heavy cities that could benefit from the CarTube. “This kind of approach in those places could really make...

A new London Tube map shows walking times between stations

2015-11-11T05:41:00-05:00

Transport bosses have unveiled the first official map showing the walking times between central London's Tube stations. The comprehensive plan highlights the time it takes to travel on foot between almost all of the stations on London’s Underground network. [Transport for London] Chief Executive Gordon Innes said: “The Tube is the most used transport method by visitors in London, stations for many of our top attractions are within walking distance of each other.

You can download the new map here.

Multi-media art interventions coming to London's Victoria tube line

2015-07-01T11:40:00-04:00

The project, called Underline, will include the underground’s first music commission and a plan by the Turner prize-nominated architectural collective Assemble to improve what is regarded as one of the most unloved station exits on the entire network, at Seven Sisters in north London.

Organized by "Art on the Underground", a group that curates contemporary artworks for display in the London Underground, the new project will bring a variety of art, music and architectural interventions to the Victoria Line. Commissions selected to be part of the Underline are not simply public art projects – the interventions involve real proposals to improving the quality of experience for both commuters and workers on London's tube.

The whole tube line is under the curatorial purview, with architecture firm Assemble selected to focus particularly the Seven Sisters stop, known for its "anti-social behaviour problems". Artist Giles Round's Underline project, called "Design Work Leisure", will produce "prototypes of functional objects that can be used on the tube: a new ceramic tile for patch repairs on the existing tiles, for example, or new clocks, lighting or direction signs." Film and musical performances will also pepper the Victoria Line during Underline's run.

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