Move over Underground map, the London Surface Diagram is here

Ninety years after the creation of the Underground map it cannot be too soon to have a diagram of London at the Surface.

An international panel of designers agree.

The International Institute for Information Design in Vienna has just awarded a 2020 Bronze medal to a London company, Quickmap ltd, run by two Royal College of Art trained designers. The award is for their system of visualising how London’s centres of activity are connected across the surface of the city.

At a time when Londoners need to use the tube less and walk or cycle more, London’s surface has never been more important.

“We all know people who have come up out of the Underground and are unable to connect even quite nearby parts of London on top”, says designer David Sherriff, “we hope the new diagram will help Londoners and visitors to explore and make even better use of the city”.

The roots of the map lie with the ideas of London villages as well as more recent dynamic centres of activity where people need to get to and from.

“We would like to see the Surface Diagram next to the Underground diagram at entrances to Tube stations so that people can more easily choose how’s best to reach their destination”, is the view of Andrew Sutton, the diagram’s co-designer. “Many places are within walking distance with much to see, or do, on the way”.