MetaFilter posts tagged with underground

Some "bloody design consistency" on the Underground

badrolemodel — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:33:30 -0800

Eiichi’s self-confessed shock is now hopefully more understandable – he was not simply being asked to rework an old typeface, he was being asked to touch up an acknowledged “Old Master.” Johnstone Sans - A Typeface for the Underground. Johnston Sans helped begat the also classic Gill Sans, created by the now infamous Eric Gill (Previously) The undergroud font is commercially available from P22. Britsh Rail commisioned its own typeface in the 1960's known as the Rail Alphabet (new version here), created by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert who also produced the system for Britain's road and motorway signage (a free version is available here).

underground designs

nickyskye — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:21:50 -0800

The World's Best Alternative Subway Maps, including Eddie Jabbour's NYC Kick Map.

Stages of Decay

netbros — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:43:38 -0800

Julia Solis, who brought us Dark Passage (previously), is still exploring derelict sites, both subterranean and in urban decay. Her most recent project is Abandoned Theaters, a look at grand old movie palaces, school auditoriums, and theaters that have become, shall we say, retired. Julia still keeps a photoblog that she calls Dark Passage Travelogue, and partnering with Suzy Poling, she chronicles the decrepitude of hospitals long abandoned in Fantastic Degradation.

"Mein Penis! It's stuck in the keyhole!!"

mannequito — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:45:38 -0800

On Sunday, Karmanoia, one of Berlin's most interesting underground clubs, closed its doors for the last time. Although not as storied or well-known as Tacheles - also facing tough times - and easy to pass without noticing, Karmanoia had a loyal crowd of oddballs frequenting it, and was notable not just for its pirate-ship-like interior, but also for the full Labyrinth built into its upper portions. The club's funeral took place directly after locking the doors at midnight on Sunday, with an orchestra dressed like skeletons leading a parade to a nearby canal to bury the key in a watery grave. A few performances to sample what you might come across on any given night in the club, as well as three out of four parts of a live set there by Brass Wood & Wires. Their pottkasten is (was?) especially great as well, including some great music and hilarious comedy skits in both English and German (sometimes simultaneously!). Post title comes from episode 10 I believe.

wysiwyg: Ed Piskor

not_on_display — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:59:08 -0800

Ed Piskor became interested in alternative comics at the tender age of nine [according to Wikipedia] after watching Harvey Pekar reading one of his stories in a documentary [most likely this one]. Fast-forward a decade or so, and Ed's getting the call from Pekar himself, asking Ed to draw some comics for him. He started by collaborating with Garbage Pail Kids creator Jay Lynch before being picked up by Pekar (for whom he's since drawn peices for Our Movie Year [linked to above], Macedonia, and a history of the SDS, among others). Ed's also published a few well-known minicomics. He's currently working on the Wizzywig series, a fictional comics biography whose main character is a composite of well-known phreaks and hackers. Portions of part one and two are available on his website. For more pages from Wizzywig, as well as a veritable shitton of his other work, visit his blog. (Really. You'll get lost in there.) I don't think he's on Myspace, though.

Hidey Hole

Joe Beese — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:59:45 -0800

It's scary out there. It can make you just want to hide.

The Bethnal Green Disaster

Electric Dragon — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:47:29 -0800

On March 3rd 1943, the worst civilian disaster of the Second World War killed 173 people, including 62 children. During an air-raid alert, the noise of a new anti-aircraft battery panicked the crowd trying to get into the shelter at Bethnal Green tube station. In the dark, wet conditions, someone tripped and fell at the foot of the stairs, blocking the pathway and knocking others over in a domino effect. More and more people continued to pile in at the top leading to a massive and deadly crush. In order not to unduly alarm the populace, many details of the disaster were suppressed at the time, and the report of the official inquiry was kept secret until after the war - only on the 50th anniversary was a memorial plaque erected. A proper memorial is planned, which will list all the victims. Their website also has a series of recollections from survivors and relatives of victims.

You Say You Want a Revolution

billysumday — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:35:01 -0800

You Say You Want a Revolution -- "Despite some bravado, I myself was a cautious person looking to break the shackles of bourgeois detachment. I felt real relief in seemingly giving my all. But at the same time, I was terrified. Such existential 'acting out' does not ordinarily lead to political good sense. The importance of demonstrating revolutionary credentials or moral purity gets in the way of clear thinking about how to strengthen the movement or take advantage of political opportunities." Howard Machtinger, a founding member of the Weather Underground, provides a contemporary critique of his group's actions. [via]

Turner Classic Movies Underground

Otis — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:24:03 -0800

TCM Underground (warning: flash, sound) has been screening an excellent selection of Cult movies on late Friday nights that are worth staying up for. Upcoming films include: Terror of Tiny Town, The Swinger, Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains, Willie Dynamite, Shack Out On 101, Two-Lane Blacktop, and The Legend of Hell House.

100 years of the roundel

salishsea — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:09:14 -0800

London's iconic transportation symbol, the roundel, is 100 years old this year and a new online exhibit at the London Transport Museum features some amazing galleries of architecture, promotional material, livery and a great illustrated history of the mark.

The Aesthetic of Anticipation

louche mustachio — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:55:09 -0800

What does the artist do to a machine? There's a hammer lying here. Suppose we consider the computer a tool very much like the hammer, only we don't know what to make with it or what to do with it. Artist, animator and underground filmmaker Stan Vanderbeek (1927-1984) started learning animation while working on the show Winky Dink and You in the '50s. Inspired by Buckminster Fuller, he created his Movie Drome to create an environment wherein one would be fully immersed in floating imagery. He started working in cut-out stop motion animation and ended up working at MIT to become one of the first computer animators. Twelve of his films have been made available by his estate _via Ubuweb.

Better red than dead

infini — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:01:32 -0800

With the potential 'crisis' with Russia, Georgia, Europe et al, the BBC tries to imagine what a new Cold War would be like starting with a tour of the budding Moscow tourist attraction called the Confrontation Cold War Museum. Sold off in an auction last year, the underground bunker now belongs to a private company that plans to turn it into an entertainment complex with a museum about the Cold War, a restaurant and even a spa. But it is already possible to hold fashion shows around the 600-meter-long network of bare, cavernous tunnels.

Tunnel boring machines

Wolfdog — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:08:39 -0800

Tunnel boring machines, underground nuclear tests, and all manner of things below the surface.

Get yer urban exploration/dead mall fix right here

limeonaire — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:59:13 -0800

"Q: What the hell is this site about? This is a site about urban exploration in the Ozarks." Abandoned water slides, underground tunnels, abandoned buildings and half-demolished malls throughout Missouri were all once fair game for this blog, and remain fair game for those who post in Underground Ozarks' forums.

Underground Railroad

netbros — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:36:24 -0800

The Underground Railroad refers to the effort -- sometimes spontaneous, sometimes highly organized -- to assist persons held in bondage in North America to escape from slavery. Historic places along the Underground Railroad are testament of African American resolve. One of those places is Lycoming County, PA. Freedom means a hard, dangerous trek. Do you try it?

Reinvent yourself with an MBA.. in farming

your mildly obsessive average geek — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:30:57 -0800

Trying to get unemployed youth interested in farming, Pasana O₂ boasts a slick website (Japanese only unfortunately), a vision statement, a newsletter and oh yeah, an underground farm covering one square kilometer inside a former bank vault. [Via our very own]

The Artist Leaves Underground.

grabbingsand — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:55:32 -0800

No Tourists, No Artists. Tourists at Atlanta's Underground didn't realize they were working with an real live artist, but they were. Tom Richmond, Caricaturist Of The Year for 1998 and 1999, recipient of a Reuben Award in 2003 , one-time comic book creator, and frequent artistic contributor to Mad Magazine (movie parodies, mostly), supported his freelance work for almost 18 years by doing cartoons-for-hire in historic Underground Atlanta. Despite many efforts to "save" it, Underground continues to fade in popularity and the tourist traffic just dwindles on down, leaving folks like Tom no choice but to pack up their paints and leave. Tom's story makes for interesting insight into a job that most of us might take for tourist-trapping huckstery. (via Radical Georgia Moderate)

MetroDream

parudox — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:45:01 -0800

Russos takes photos of Moscow Metro construction. Also of a half-abandoned river port, a cool bridge being put together, and an old underground nuclear submarine base. But mostly of the Metro, behind the scenes. (Don't ask me how he gets access.) The Balaklava submarine base photos were actually the fodder for previous posts. And if you want conventional views of the (beautiful) Moscow Metro, go look elsewhere. A few of his photos. One blogger's sampling; another's. An index of old posts. Posts by tags: abandoned, industrial, aviation, devices, "other" metro, megadevices, metro, metro build, escalator. Elsewhere around Balaklava. The Neglinka (river under Moscow): 1 2 3 Tunnel vision. Tunnels: 906, 938, 940. Point D. Point S. TBMs: Taking delivery, plant that makes parts for them, lowering Julia down, taking apart Claudia, more. Borovitskaya: in the station, on the tracks, into the tunnel. Dostoevskaya station tunnels got a bit rusty: 1 2 Sretenskij bul'var is amazing. Trubnaya is pretty good too. Test rides and checking dimensions: 1 2 (Bonus: Victory Day train: 1 2 3 4. Photo chronicle of Sergei Kirov. Cats.)

Im in ur sewer killing your d00dz

dersins — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:32:03 -0800

Some amazing photos of the storm sewer system in Tokyo. (Further reading)

The allure of the underground city

dersins — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:21:30 -0800

Derinkuyu wasn't discovered until 1965, when a resident cleaning the back wall of his cave house broke through a wall and discovered behind it a room that he'd never seen, which led to still another, and another. Eventually, spelunking archeologists found a maze of connecting chambers that descended at least 18 stories and 280 feet beneath the surface, ample enough to hold 30,000 people. [flickr]. [wiki].

Down down in the salt mine underneath the ground

dersins — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:20:00 -0800

Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland has been in operation for 800-odd years. Needless to say, this has given the miners plenty of time to carve some pretty amazing things. More photos here and here. Videos here and here. Virtual tour here. Wikipedia.

Live in an underground dome home

Burhanistan — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:04:41 -0800

Live in an underground dome home.

The Graphical Underground

silby — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:32:52 -0800

The maps of the London Underground and the Washington Metro are iconic in their cities and a favorite of experts on information graphics. They share a similar philosophy: sacrifice geographical accuracy in order to clearly illustrate the system. What if the New York Subway map were drawn the same way? What about the Interstate system?

Don't go in the basement!

Slap*Happy — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:56:59 -0800

Sally Cruikshank intends to put all of her animations on YouTube, including her opening credits for Ruthless People, the Seseame Street Feets too Big short, and don't miss the Oingo Boingo assist on Face Like A Frog. She's very active in the comments section of some of her videos, too, answering questions and participating in the discussion of her work.

Too Much Panic In This Town: London Underground Drivers play Spielberg

nthdegx — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:49:07 -0800

Some commuters are nervous about London Underground drivers filming journeys on their camera phones and posting them on YouTube. YouTube links all. BBC Story.