Homage to Beck Subway and Metro Maps

I have written from time to time about the subway and metro map collection
Sun Distinguished Engineer
Danny Cohen and I have been building for some years in
Sun Labs Menlo Park, CA. Last May, a
large part of our map collection was destroyed due to a misunderstanding
on the part of a facilities contractor. I am pleased to announce that
our Homage to Beck metro map boards are back –
better than before! After facilities staff and others donated new maps, Danny and I now
have enough for two extra-large bulletin boards in addition to our original board.
We have maps of:

* Amsterdam     * Bangkok     * Barcelona
* Boston        * Budapest    * Cairo Egypt
* Chicago       * Frankfurt   * Hamburg
* Helsinki      * Hong Kong   * Houston
* Kuala Lampur  * London      * Lyon France
* Madrid        * Marseilles  * Moscow Russia
* Munich        * New York    * Oslo
* Paris         * Prague      * Rome
* San Francisco * Santa Clara * Seoul
* Singapore     * Sofia       * St. Petersburg Russia
* Stockholm     * Sydney      * Taipei
* Tokyo         * Washington  * Wellington NZ
* Zurich

All of the maps in our collection present a design that derives
at least partially from

Harry Beck’s 1933 London subway map. The point of the display is that excellent
design communicates across cultures and can perpetuate itself through inspiration.

New bulletin boards

Original collection down the hall

Danny and me

“New Yorker” Subway Man

Maps close up

Maps posted so far

Images Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson

For photos of the original map display, check out my blog –

February 07, 2008.

For your own instant map collection, buy

Transit Maps of the World – The World’s First Collection of
Every Urban Train Map on Earth

by Mark Ovenden, Penguin, 2007


ISBN-10: 0143112651,
ISBN-13: 978-0143112655