yuri suzuki: london underground circuit map radio yuri suzuki: london underground circuit map radio
sep 06, 2012

yuri suzuki: london underground circuit map radio

 ‘london underground circuit maps’ by yuri suzuki images © hitomi kai yoda

japanese designer yuri suzuki has sent designboom images of his ‘london underground circuit maps’ project developed as part of the designers in residence program at the london design museum, on show until january 13th, 2013.

responding to ‘thrift’ as a theme, suzuki’s work explores communication systems in consumer electronics. a printed circuit board (PCB) is used as a precedent for developing a electrical circuit influenced by harry beck’s iconic london underground map diagrams. by strategically positioning certain speaker, resistor and battery components throughout the map, users can visually understand the complex networks associated with electricity and how power is generated within a radio.

overview of the london underground map

detailed network of resistors and components

detailed network of resistors and components

full circuit board view


yuri suzuki designers in residence video
rodrigo caula I designboom
sep 06, 2012

  • looks like great fun, can it be purchased now? Id like to see the line expanded and let buyers choose the city they\’d like. Great job.

    charles says:
    Sep 06, 2012

  • suzuki is the kiddie.

    dshott.co.uk says:
    Sep 06, 2012

  • Ironic, considering Beck was an electrical draughtsman who based his design on electrical wiring diagrams…

    Steve cowie says:
    Sep 06, 2012

  • i\’d buy it…great

    luo says:
    Sep 07, 2012

  • well done! Now the speakers in a underground-look.

    tish says:
    Sep 07, 2012

  • Pretty sure mile end is on the district line as well

    Miserabledrunktwat says:
    Sep 07, 2012

  • I’ve ridden a lot of that…..circuitry!

    Neil says:
    Sep 09, 2012

  • But what’s the point, given that it clearly doesn’t function? Erm, oh, it’s “Design” is it?

    Travis says:
    Sep 11, 2012

  • Thing is: It does function. It’s a working radio.

    Jonas says:
    Sep 11, 2012

  • Jonas: Nope, it can’t. All the copper on the board is shorted together. It’s especially visible in the second-to-last photo.

    Daniel says:
    Sep 11, 2012

  • Not quite all of it, look closer.

    Gef says:
    Sep 11, 2012

  • Yup, it’s definitely not all shorted together. It’s especially visible in the second-to-last photo. =P

    Evan says:
    Sep 11, 2012

  • Neil/Daniel – it works, I’ve seen (and heard) it on display at the Design Museum in London Don’t be so hasty to judge things based on a photograph! Objects are designed to be EXPERIENCED not simply viewed on a computer screen

    Dave says:
    Sep 11, 2012

  • Nice film about it here as well: https://vimeo.com/album/2067663/video/48937359

    Dave says:
    Sep 11, 2012

  • It would be cool for it to play the reworded version of the Jam’s Going Underground :-

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxJKvYBNgo8

    karl h says:
    Sep 12, 2012

  • Clever for sure, but someone has
    way too much spare time. Did anyone run DRC on layer 1?

    Ted says:
    Jun 19, 2013

have something to add? share your thoughts in our comments section below.

comments policy
LOG IN
designboom's comment policy guidelines
generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject. we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share! our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions. we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like.
the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say?
let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

- please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
- please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters.
- please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround.
- please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion.
- please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results
(there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent.
in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish
the best 100-200 entries too.)

a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc. (links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay). unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted. and, ... yes, spam gets banned. no, we do not post fake comments.

forgot password

(24 articles)

(24 articles)

PRODUCT LIBRARY

a diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme.

technology news

all technology news