Post by Salzmank on Aug 5, 2018 2:15:35 GMT
So I’m still not entirely sure if I’m the only one who remembers/likes/liked these books, but…
I’m in Washington, D.C., for a conference this weekend, and something that kind of amazed me was how much the D.C. Subway/Metro reminded me of The Future World of Transportation—or just Disney’s Epcot in general, maybe. I’m used to the Boston T and the New York subway, the former remarkably inefficient and the latter notoriously dirty, and compared to them both the sleek, ‘70s-futuristic design of the D.C. Metro is really interesting to behold.
Not that it’s particularly good—I especially think the organization of the metro lines leaves much to be desired. Or even that the architecture’s particularly amazing; I know someone who despises the D.C. metro (she thinks it makes you feel deep in the ground in some subterranean, post-apocalyptic, claustrophobic tunnel, à la Beneath the Planet of the Apes, maybe).*
And the ticketing system is terrible and confuses the heck out of me. (Perhaps, if we have any Washingtonians here, they can explain it to me.
) But I did have to do a double-take when I was riding it today, because it really did feel like I was seeing in real life what I’d read about in The Future World of Transportation. (I did ride the D.C. Metro years ago when I was a kid, but I guess I didn’t think of the book at the time.)
The DC Metro was first opened in ’76, and Transportation came out in ’84, so it’s not that surprising, but I was amused and kinda nostalgic.
*With that said, I rather love the cathedral ceilings of D.C. Metro stations—a striking combination of brutalist (which I usually hate) and neoclassical. But that may be because of my fondness for the futurism in these Disney books.
I’m in Washington, D.C., for a conference this weekend, and something that kind of amazed me was how much the D.C. Subway/Metro reminded me of The Future World of Transportation—or just Disney’s Epcot in general, maybe. I’m used to the Boston T and the New York subway, the former remarkably inefficient and the latter notoriously dirty, and compared to them both the sleek, ‘70s-futuristic design of the D.C. Metro is really interesting to behold.
Not that it’s particularly good—I especially think the organization of the metro lines leaves much to be desired. Or even that the architecture’s particularly amazing; I know someone who despises the D.C. metro (she thinks it makes you feel deep in the ground in some subterranean, post-apocalyptic, claustrophobic tunnel, à la Beneath the Planet of the Apes, maybe).*
And the ticketing system is terrible and confuses the heck out of me. (Perhaps, if we have any Washingtonians here, they can explain it to me.
) But I did have to do a double-take when I was riding it today, because it really did feel like I was seeing in real life what I’d read about in The Future World of Transportation. (I did ride the D.C. Metro years ago when I was a kid, but I guess I didn’t think of the book at the time.)The DC Metro was first opened in ’76, and Transportation came out in ’84, so it’s not that surprising, but I was amused and kinda nostalgic.
*With that said, I rather love the cathedral ceilings of D.C. Metro stations—a striking combination of brutalist (which I usually hate) and neoclassical. But that may be because of my fondness for the futurism in these Disney books.