You wait ages for an exhibition about the tube, and then two come along at once.
What?Underground maps unravelled Who? University of Essex researcher Dr Maxwell Roberts Where? Scott Brownrigg architects, 77 Endell Street How? Between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn stations (very near the Oasis Pool) When? 7 - 22 October 2010 Why? Max Roberts is a man who knows more about how tube maps work than the officials whose job it is to produce them. He knows that a tube map is a fine balance between aesthetics and usability, and that if you add too much noise to a network diagram it gets very inefficient. What's more, he has a graphics package which allows him to generate a wide variety of alternative tube maps just to make a point. Can changing the angles the lines run at make a difference, and if so is 60 degrees better than 45? Do curves work better, or worse? What happens if you allow some geographical reality back in, or if you twirl the entire map so that east is at the top? Some of these new versions are clearly for fun only, but one or two could give TfL's latest a run for their money, if only bosses would ever dare to take on board a few of the lessons learned. Whatever? It's less an exhibition hall, more the foyer to an architectural practice. But there's room enough for nine of Max's finer maps, plus a rolling display of some of his others on a screen at the back. Think of this as a taster for his main exhibition, which I went to see in Southend earlier this year and which was more recently on display up in Colchester. You probably didn't manage to go to either, because Essex is so very far away isn't it, so think of this as a magnificent opportunity to see London's iconic tube map reimagined in its hometown. If all goes well there might be a bigger show of Max's handiwork in the not-so-far future, but best not risk missing the current oportunity. For more information, and a fair few diagrammatic photos, check out Ian's report from the official launch on Thursday night. But trust me, the maps are much better pored over close-up. Whence? You've got two weeks to visit, alas not including weekends, but there's late opening on Thursdays.
You wait ages for an exhibition about the tube, and then two come along at once.
What?Underground Journeys Who? Charles Holden's designs for London Transport Where?The Victoria & Albert Museum How? From the main entrance, turn right and head up the stairs to the top floor (room 128a) When? 2 October 2010 - 13 February 2011 Why?CharlesHolden is probably the greatest architect London Underground ever had. He had the good fortune to be around in the 1920s and 1930s when the network was expanding fast into the suburbs, and got the opportunity to show off his design skills at more than 50 stations all across London. They're the Modernist ones, with ticket halls that often look like brick boxes or cavernous drums. He cut his teeth on the run down from Clapham to Morden, then framed his masterpieces on the outer reaches of the Piccadilly line. Sudbury Town, Southgate, Arnos Grove - they're far mightier than any shiny glass edifice Crossrail might erect in the near future. Whatever? It's less an exhibition hall, more a long corridor with display cases. But here you'll find a fine collection of ephemera relating to Holden's stint in charge of the Underground's design office. Photos, obviously, each duly labelled with informative background. A poster and a public information film celebrating the tube's rollout towards Cockfosters (which was supposed to have towers, but the money ran out). Some cutaway drawings of the elliptical ticket hall beneath Piccadilly Circus, revealing how its passageways linked down to the platforms (and to Swan and Edgar). Some little models, including a perfectly formed Balham and a miniature Rayners Lane. And lots of lovely original drawings and architect's plans, which don't get out of 55 Broadway very often. That was one of Holden's too, of course. Whence? You've got four months to visit, and to grab one of the enlightening stapled/foldout exhibition guides.
When the Olympic hullabaloo's over, and the marathon's been and run, what next? Does East London end up with a tumbleweed concrete plaza, or will we be bequeathed a vibrant desirable neighbourhood? Experience from most previous Olympic Games suggests the former, but London's determined to be different. Detailed future plans were announcedyesterday, courtesy of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, and they're ambitious to say the least. High-rise waterside quarters (hmmm), rolling natural(ish) parkland and sweeping Georgian-style crescents (yeah right), they're all on their way. It'll take the best part of two decades to transform the area completely, but we're promised the first recreational benefits within a year of the Paralympic closing ceremony.
And the name of this enormous new legacy destination? Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park I don't know about you, but I'm not convinced.
I mean, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? It's two completely different concepts rammed together. It's the kind of name a committee might devise, or maybe a royalist sport-obsessed politician. Nobody's ever going to call it this in real life, surely? "Hey Mum, I'm just off up Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park"... it'll never happen. I reckon the name needs slimming down.
Olympic Park
No, not slimmed down that far. Not unless you're a republican, that is, in which case you'd be delighted for the octogenarian tyrant to receive no recognition whatsoever. I reckon 'Olympic Park' sounds very 2012, and the new name has to last long beyond 2013.
Queen Elizabeth Park
That's better. Indeed, this is the name the park was going to have before the British Olympic Association stuck their oar in. The name of the monarch who (hopefully) celebrates her Diamond Jubilee in the year of the 2012 Olympics, plus the word park. But no, the BOA put the kybosh on simplicity by insisting that the Olympic brand be maintained. They even wanted £10m for the privilege, because naming rights don't come cheap. I guess we should be pleased that Lloyds TSB, O2 or McDonalds didn't offer to pay more.
Elizabeth Park
Personally, I much prefer this abbreviated version. Surely the word 'Queen' is superfluous, when for most of us the only Elizabeth we know is that old lady on the throne who likes horses. And there's a strong local precedent here - a much-loved greenspace named after her great-great grandmother which nobody would dream of calling Queen Victoria Park.
Lizzie Park
Give it time, and our new Olympic playgarden will surely get nicknamed Lizzie Park. It'd match Vicky Park up the road, and it has a certain common charm. But I guess we can't leap to this over-familiar stage straight away, because they'd never persuade Queen Lizzie to come down to Stratford to unveil the plaque.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Ah well, it seems this is the official name we're lumbered with. It's clumsy, it's dual-focused and it's nine syllables long. But if nothing else at least it'll act as a lasting reminder of London's golden summer of 2012. I wonder what the general public will finally decide to shorten it to.
Want to know why the East End's Olympic marathon is vanishing? It's because of this map.
No, this isn't the marathon route, it's the Olympic Route Network. These are the roads which LOCOG have designated as special transport links during the Games, and which will be used to move athletes and important spectators around. The red roads form the Core Route, and will be "heavily used every day of the Games with most extensive traffic management measures". In East London the key venues of the Olympic Park, ExCel and North Greenwich are all linked to each other, as well as to the Athletes Village north of Stratford. There's also a long red finger pointing west along the A13 and the Embankment, which has a subtly different purpose. It links up with the two green triangles on the map - one for the IOC's hotels in Mayfair and Park Lane, and the other for the media's base around Russell Square. This West End extension helps to keep the "Olympic Family" moving, ensuring that dignitaries, officials and sponsors can get to the main venues out east without getting stuck in traffic. Bear with me, this is important. Then there are the blue roads, which are venue-specific and only operate on certain days. Locations like Earl's Court, Wimbledon, Wembley and Broxbourne rely on these blue routes, some of the time. And finally there are the grey roads which form the Alternative Olympic Route Network - only to be used "if there is a problem on other routes". All of these red, blue and grey routes are enshrined in an official Olympic Transport Plan, and at this stage it would be legally and operationally difficult to change them, if not impossible.
Now let's have a look at the original Olympic marathon route, first announced in 2004, and very recently scrapped.
Can you see the problem here? Can you see why Seb and friends deemed this route to be inappropriate? You might think the stumbling block was the road from Aldgate to Bow, but you'd be wrong. This road is grey, not red, so it doesn't impinge on the core Olympic Route Network at all. Running a marathon between Aldgate and Bow would cause absolutely no major traffic disruption whatsoever, at least not to Olympic vehicles. The problem's not the run through Tower Hamlets, the problem's the quarter mile at either end. Specifically that's the road junction to the north of Tower Bridge, and the A11/A12 interchange at the Bow Flyover. These are both absolutely key to 2012 traffic management plans. Block off these two road junctions and, we're told, official vehicles couldn't get from the West End to the Olympic Park at all. Not via the coloured Olympic Routes, that is, because these are the only roads in play. And that's why the old marathon route is dead. Except I still maintain that mixing runners and traffic at the Bow Interchange really shouldn't be an insurmountable problem. There's a lengthy flyover which the runners could use, and then a roundabout and underpass which would keep vehicles moving smoothly below. The flyover would deposit athletes at the entrance to Marshgate Lane, and hey presto there'd be an entrance to the Stadium right in front of them. Seriously, where's the difficulty? Which leaves the Tower Bridge problem. OK, so starting on Tower Bridge was a bad idea, and genuinely messes up the traffic. So start somewhere else. Like The Mall for example, if that's what you want. And with the bridge clear it'd be perfectly possible to segregate runners (on a loop past Tower Hill and Tower Gateway) and Olympic vehicles (via Tower Bridge and the Commercial Road), and ne'er the twain shall meet. Sounds perfectly doable to me. But hey, what do I know, I'm not an Olympic Transport Planner with a red-light risk register.
Here's the revised marathon route, announced on Monday. I may not have got all the mid-City wiggles right, but you'll get the idea.
Spot the difference. See how much more compact this new route is. Most importantly, see how little of the Olympic Route Network this snarls up. The entire eastern end of the ORN runs free, so athletes in coaches can whizz from Stratford to Greenwich without bumping into a road race. See also the big difference around Tower Bridge. The Core Route along the Embankment may be blocked, but now there are two wholly-accessible alternatives. Media vehicles can head north via Islington to their digs in Bloomsbury, and IOC vehicles can cross Tower Bridge via Southwark to their hotels in Mayfair. That leaves the marathon free to take place in the centre of town. No Olympic traveller is disadvantaged, and the traffic light on the risk register can be downgraded. Bingo, everybody's happy. Everybody who matters, that is, everybodyimportant.
So as I see it, the big marathon fiasco happened this way. An aspirational route was published in 2004 featuring major landmarks and the East End. The Olympic Route Network was published in 2009 featuring a core route of roads for use by official traffic. And somewhere, somehow, somebody failed to ensure that the two could mesh together. It seems that LOCOG's dedicated Olympic lanes took precedence, and the marathon somehow fell through the cracks. So here we are in 2010 with a risk-averse central London running race, and a community who feel like they've been slapped in the face. Not good, not good at all.
If I might conclude something from the current debacle, it's this. LOCOG must be absolutely pant-wettingly terrified that their official Transport Plan will go wrong. Not just on marathon day, but throughout Olympic fortnight. If a mere 80 athletes on a road can force "one of the toughest decisions we have had to make", then the Olympic risk register must be full to bursting with potential transport mega-cock-ups. Londoners should therefore expect further Draconian crack-downs on their movements come 2012, and I fear our shrivelled marathon is only the start.
What? Underground maps unravelled
What? Underground Journeys
