Frank Pick's London

by Oliver Green

  As managing director of the London Underground in the 1920s and the first chief executive of London Transport, Frank Pick (1878–1941) had more influence than any other individual on the look of 20th-century London. Pick’s vision for the city was more powerful than anyone’s since Christopher Wren, and his pas­sionate belief in the social and civic value of good, practical applied art and design was extended across his vast organization. Frank Pick’s London explores his extraordinary contribution to the environment and everyday experience of modern London through his meticulously planned approach to everything from maps through the distinctive red, white, and blue Underground logo and typeface to publicity posters and upholstery fabrics created by famous artists such as Man Ray, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Paul Nash, and Edward Bawden.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2013

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Porn. Just train/poster/building porn.

[Glenn Fleishman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhaustive book about Frank Pick’s dramatic influence on the formation of modern London as stitched together from his super competent work managing the London transport system in partnership with its also extraordinary (but less aesthetically involved) chairman. Beautifully illustrated and well-written, the book explains how regularizing transit changed London, sometimes in ways that Pick didn't prefer, such as encouraging sprawl. Pick's last few years are fairly sad, as his methods didn't interface well with Churchill's demands during World War II.

Pick was apparently forgotten at times, but there seems to be renaissance in the last several years of his memory and accomplishments.

[Mike Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating and comprehensive

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