London Tube Map as Electrical Circuit Board by Yuri Suzuki

Created for an exhibition at the London Design Museum, I believe this is also a functional radio as well as a kick-ass representation of the London Underground. The intricate level of detail just has to be seen to be believed. Can I have one?

I’ve seen a few comments around the Internet that this piece brings the Tube Map full circle as Harry Beck was an electrical draughtsman who based his design off circuit diagrams. To the best of my knowledge, there is no conclusive evidence that Beck did this at all.

While he would have been familiar with circuit diagrams in his role as an engineering draughtsman (see the subtle difference in job titles?), he only ever said that his Diagram evolved out of a desire to simplify the system. It’s far more likely that he was actually influenced by the seminal work of George Dow for the LNER. However, this popular conception remains, probably due in no small part to this “joke” circuit diagram that Beck produced in 1933 after colleagues pointed out the similarities.

(Source: DesignBoom - click through for some more pictures of this beautiful piece)