We have searched unsuccessfully for information on silk scarves featuring a circa 1949 edition of the London Underground map. Instead, we found out about collecting Underground Maps after Beck, including landmark maps and some 'myths' that attempt to debunk the cult of Beck. More information at A History of the London Tube Maps and the London Underground Railway Society. A distinguishing feature of the 1949 map is the proposed extension of the Bakerloo line to Camberwell. According to Camberwell Online, this might eventually happen in 2026, nearly a century after the suggestion was first made.

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The Guardian runs a weekly feature on Writer's rooms, invariably the spare back bedroom of an airy London terrace, filled with stacks of paper and anecdote-loaded trinkets. Only Will Self's looked as if any actual plotting, character crafting and genuine thought took place within its walls ('I'm going to end up like one of those old weirdos who lives in a network of tunnels burrowed through trash - yet I do not fear this.'): most are places of contemplation and repose. More images of Self's room at the official site Will-Self.com (thanks Tom).

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Muriel Auclert Immobilier, modernist houses for sale / BlogBus, a culture weblog / hypediss, collated culture / cut to the heart of faceless corporations using Bringo, or the Gethuman 500 database / SAMETIME, a project by Brad Walker and Michael Lease, 'a friend and I take a picture everyday at 7:15 for a year and post them on our site, month by month' / The Black Hole: Los Alamos Laboratory Salvage Yard, via projects.

A polychromatic platter of retro interiors (via, via). But is it any less retro than Foster and Partner's Space Port for Virgin Galactic (via, via)? Together with Marc Newson's Space Jet for EADS/Astrim, the visions of tomorrow appear fatally undermined by the baggage of the past.

d/visible, an 'international online design magazine' (thanks for the link). Thanks too for the link at the Internet Eclectic, a site which brings together a host of forecasting, future-divining, trend-watching, culture collating and other aggregation links under the banner of Ideation. On the other hand, are we just drowning in quirk?

Is it just us, or are architecture-related weblogs breeding like flies? Habitaxion, architecture, construction, weblog / Meeftah, more architecture / The Perfumed Garden puts out Peel Sessions for your listening delight, dredging up lost gems from 80s and 90s-era indie / a sad day, the end of slower / Penguin Orange auction, the return of the classic cover design for contemporary books / map scarves, a city on a scarf.

The Untitled Project (via me-fi) / Bouncy Buildings, 'Why is a bouncy castle so enjoyable as a formal idea?'. Instant architecture meets play / tunnelling, photographs by Gerry Amstutz / rolu / dsgn, a weblog. posted by things at 12:55 / 0 comments