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倫敦地鐵150歲了(2)
Buckley points out the Deco treasures this station still possesses: orange columns and glass cylinder lights, an original clock, smart lettering on the walls, small, elegant shop booths (still in use) and a magnificent linear world clock encased in a handsome wood and glass case. Pick not only commissioned great architects and artists (such as Jacob Epstein and Henry Moore) to create beautiful stations and artworks for the Tube, he also introduced its famous bullseye symbol, promoted the use of beautiful artistic poster-advertising that encouraged people to explore their city using the trains and introduced a universal typeface for all of the network's branding. Londoners have a lot to thank him for. Nikolaus Pevsner, the great British architectural historian, described Pick in 1968 as "the greatest patron of the arts whom this century has so far produced in England, and indeed the ideal patron of our age". Not bad, really, for a railway manager. In honour of the area's most famous son, Leytonstone Tube station is covered in a remarkable array of mosaics depicting scenes from Alfred Hitchcock films. They include Psycho, North by Northwest and The Birds. The first, the greatest, the most innovative, the most visionary... the facts, figures and superlatives that I hear during my Tube tour never seem to end. And then there's the simple, ingenious design for which the Tube is most famous: the map, designed by Harry Beck. This iconic design—much copied, never bettered—was first approved and printed in 1933 (thank you, Mr Pick), and was an instant hit. The map isn't geographically accurate, but as any Londoner will tell you, it's how we all mentally imagine our city. If it's not on the map, we can't tell you where it is. With a life of its own but always intertwined with the city above, the London Underground even has its own species of mosquito, which evolved from an above-ground species that moved to live in the tunnels during excavation in the 1850s. Even the thick moquette fabric on the Central Line seats tells a story. Buckley makes me closely examine its apparently abstract blue pattern. As I gradually realise, it is a cunningly designed depiction of London's skyline . It's just another example of incidental beauty that passes unnoticed by most travellers. Stop and look around you, though, and you'll be taken aback by how inspiring the Underground is in its scope, ambition and attention to detail. One rarely thinks of it as a romantic place, but what a lot of love has gone into it over the years. Happy Birthday London Underground. 這是一個(gè)典型的英格蘭冬日的早晨，天空是灰白色的，空氣中傳來陣陣寒意，我穿行在人流如梭的帕丁頓鐵路車站的中央大廳里。我將要踏上自己人生中最大開眼界的旅行之一。不過，我不是要乘上火車離開倫敦去旅行，而是要進(jìn)行一次倫敦地下之旅。 今年的一月九日，倫敦地鐵已經(jīng)年滿150歲了。這是一個(gè)意義重大的出生紀(jì)念日，因?yàn)閭惗氐罔F是全世界第一個(gè)地下鐵路系統(tǒng)。1863年，“大都會(huì)鐵路”的第一部分在帕丁頓開通，這項(xiàng)工程是維多利亞時(shí)代工程史上的奇跡，它不可思議地讓蒸汽式機(jī)車在地下隧道里運(yùn)行。這件事引起了極大的轟動(dòng)，倫敦地下鐵每天載著大約兩萬六千名乘客穿梭往來。 同大多數(shù)倫敦市民一樣，地鐵通暢運(yùn)行的日子我把它視作理所應(yīng)當(dāng)，地鐵伴著風(fēng)聲颼颼駛過，幾分鐘之內(nèi)便可以載著我在城市里穿行好幾英里，而地鐵擁擠不堪或是延時(shí)晚點(diǎn)的時(shí)候，我又會(huì)抱怨起來。因此，在它的生日到來之際，我決定借此機(jī)會(huì)向這個(gè)躺在我腳下的迷宮般的地鐵系統(tǒng)致以敬意。 米歇爾?巴克利是我的導(dǎo)游，她供職于徒步旅行公司“倫敦知情人”。我們?cè)谂炼☆D站的大廳里站了幾分鐘，巴克利為我介紹150年前第一個(gè)地下鐵路之旅如何從這里開始。 “倫敦的道路擁堵不是現(xiàn)代才發(fā)生的事，”巴克利說著，舉起了一件古斯塔夫?多雷的版畫。畫面描述了倫敦街道的可怕景象，街道上擠滿了馬車、公共汽車、行人、商人和被趕往市場的羊群。在19世紀(jì)，倫敦人口激增，到1900年，人口數(shù)量已經(jīng)由1800年的一百萬增長到將近七百萬。 必須做一些事讓這座城市運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)起來，巴克利告訴我，提出建立地下交通系統(tǒng)這個(gè)“大膽”想法的人是一位律師，名叫查理斯?帕爾森。人們對(duì)他的提議反應(yīng)不一，《泰晤士報(bào)》這樣的報(bào)紙甚至還諷刺這個(gè)想法是一個(gè)荒誕的白日夢(mèng)。 巴克利和我進(jìn)入地鐵通道，在區(qū)域線上乘坐了兩站到達(dá)諾丁山門，諾丁山門是1868年開通的一座早期地鐵站。巴克利指給我看車站內(nèi)美麗的維多利亞式磚質(zhì)拱門、巨大而光滑的屋頂和頭頂上玻璃與鐵混合制作的圓形吊燈。“這些都是1868年原裝的吊燈”，她說。貝克街站臺(tái)上也懸掛著這樣曲線優(yōu)美的球體。【倫敦地鐵150歲了(2)】相關(guān)文章：
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