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There's no excuse for tourists not being able to find their way to the latest blue plaque to be unveiled in London: it will honour Harry Beck, designer of the map of the London Underground.
The plaque, at Beck's birthplace in Wesley Road in Leyton, east London, will mark the 80th anniversary of the map's first public appearance, and the 150th anniversary of London Underground itself.
Sam Mullins, director of London's Transport Museum, described Beck's elegant diagram of the tangle of lines under the capital, which by 1933 was beginning to become complex enough to baffle travellers, as "revolutionary in its simplicity".
"It has become a London icon and influenced the design of many metro maps across the globe, as well as being the inspiration for many contemporary artists and designers. His work forms part of the overall design ethic of Transport for London."
Beck spent the first two years of his life in the small terraced house in Leyton, which his parents had bought when newly built, but the family later moved to a slightly grander house in Highgate, north London.
Beck started work as an engineering draughtsman in the Signal Engineer's office in 1925, but between jobs in 1931 produced his first attempt at the Tube map.
He is said to have been paid just five guineas for the design, launched in 1933, which he continued to adapt for decades as new lines and stations were introduced, even after he became a teacher at the London School of Printing. His last published version was in 1960, but he later broke with London Underground enraged at other designers meddling with his work. He also produced prototypes for a Paris metro map and although it was never used, the final design, like those for Moscow, Singapore and many other cities, is visibly influenced by Beck's work.
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