Author:Mark Ovenden
Since its establishment 150 years ago as the world's first urban subway, the London Underground has continuously set a benchmark for design that many transit systems around the world - from New York to Tokyo to Moscow and beyond - have followed. London Underground by Design is the first meticulous study of every aspect of that feat.
Beginning in the pioneering Victorian age, Mark Ovenden charts the evolution of architecture, branding, typeface, map design, interior and textile styles, posters, signage and graphic design and how all these came together to shape not just the identity of the Underground, but the character of London itself. This is the story of some of the most celebrated figures in design history - from Frank Pick, the guru who conceptualised the design of the modern Tube with his idea of 'design fit for purpose', to Harry Beck, the creator of the Tube map, and from Marion Dorn, one of the leading textile designers of the 20th Century, to Edward Johnston, creator of the distinctive font that bears his name. Rich with stunning illustrations, London Underground by Design shows that design is about more than aesthetic pleasure, but is crucial to how we get around.
I wouldn't ordinarily enthuse about one book at such length, but this is an important work...not because it's an entertaining read (it is), but because it identifies the birth of a brand...and records the birth of a new idea - the transport interchange.
—— Kevin McCloud , Grand Designs MagazineMark Ovenden has devotedly documented the designs associated with [the Underground] ... "addictive" for anyone interested in the look of everyday life.
—— TelegraphA wonderful, handsome book ... it makes me want to nerd out, get a travel card and whiz out to the strange ends of Metroland or the UFO shape of Southgate station.
—— Robert Bownes/Andrew Tuck , Monocle WeeklyThis beautifully illustrated history is a worthy tribute [to 150 years of design].
—— Shortlist[Praise for Great Railway Maps of the World]: Just the ticket ... it is a glorious celebration of the pioneering history - and romance - of the railways
—— Sunday Times Travel Books of the Year 2011This is a terrific coffee table book. It's a work of art in itself. Mark Ovenden has created a book that will transport the lucky recipient on an eccentric and world tour they will not forget
—— BooksellerAcker understands that writing without myth is nothing
—— Chris KrausKathy Acker's writing is virtuoso, maddening, crazy, so sexy, so painful, and beaten out of a wild heart that nothing can tame. Acker is a landmark writer
—— Jeanette WintersonScarified sensibility,subversive intellect, and predatory wit make her a writer like no other
—— The New York Times Review of BooksAn avatar of nomadic urban modern primitive tribes... her novels perform postmodern campfire grill voodoo... She was a magician
—— R.U. SiriusReading Kathy Acker is like playing hopscotch with a genius
—— Richard ForemanA single porcelain pot is sufficiently beautiful to behold, as is this dramatic, gloriously theatrical and irresistibly passionate pilgrimage into a dark hall of mirrors
—— Eileen Battersby , Irish Timesa lyrical yet admirably unflinching tale
—— Moira Jeffrey , Scotsmana fascinating voyage
—— Alex Sarll , UK Press SyndicationA quirky memoir that engagingly weaves together a history of porcelain with his personal history
—— Good HousekeepingA mighty achievement
—— Kathleen Jamie , GuardianA compelling and thoroughly absorbing amalgam of history, autobiography, travelogue and philosophical ruminations on the nature of creativity and many other things besides
—— Monica Bohm-Duchen , Jewish ChronicleDe Waal…sees the world in a shard of white porcelain, thoughtfully and poetically tracing its invention and material production from imperial China through medieval Europe, and Cherokee creeks to the satanic factories of Nazi Germany. Global cultural history, structural and individual: this should be a humanising core text on the now sadly abandoned liberal arts curriculum.
—— Professor E. Stina Lyon , Times Higher EducationAn intimate and lyrical writer with a sophisticated grasp of cultural history… De Waal’s prose thrives on exchanges of curiousity… The White Road feels like a long book, and a long book may sometimes have qualities peculiar to its size. It may be by turns capricious, slow-drifting, and affected. It may yet enlarge your world.
—— Julian Bell , New York Review of BooksA stylishly written account with a surprisingly spiritual dimension. Engrossing.
—— Rebecca Wallersteiner , LadyDe Waal’s charm lies in his ability to undertake obsessive research, to pile up and accrue, to involve the reader in almost frantic travelling, note-taking and reading. There’s no doubting that The White Road is a mighty achievement.
—— Kathleen Jamie , GuardianHis enthusiasm is infectious... This is not just about one ancient industry – somehow, superbly, it's about industry itself
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA powerful memoir-cum-manifesto
—— New StatesmanEntirely keeping Ai Weiwei's taste for provocation...his memoir refuses to play by the rules... [1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows] leaves the reader with little doubt of Ai's commitment to freedom of expression and his willingness to confront power and inequality in all its forms
—— Nick Holdstock , Literary Review[A] brave commentary on totalitarianism and his confrontation of the Chinese authorities
—— Art Newspaper, *Summer Reads of 2022*An eye-raising, compelling read.
—— Creative Bloom, *Best Art Books of Summer 2022*[It] gave me a new confidence in how to engage with, understand and, more importantly, enjoy wandering around an exhibition.
—— Mariella Frostrup , ObserverFor those…insecure when viewing art, not always sure how to decode it or emotionally engage with it, this offers a lifeline…Utterly compelling.
—— Mail on Sunday , Mariella FrostrupA typically elegant ad absorbing book by one of t great contemporary English Writers, and with strong Gallic undertones – a wonderful set of essays about artists, many of them French, covering the period from Romanticism through to modernism.
—— Terry Lempiere , GuardianOpinionated, enthusiastic, witty and beautifully written.
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday ExpressJulian Barnes is best known for his fiction...but he's also an excellent art writer... Peppered with personal insights and select historical detail, each piece is as engaging as the next
—— Millie Watson , Citizen FemmeUnusually moving.
—— William Leith , Evening Standard