Moscow will soon turn 866 years old. During this time, the city changed, the metro and its layout changed. Each new diagram showed not only the development of the subway, but also the peaks of design characteristic of those eras. We invite you to take a look at the history of the development of metro schemes, which are almost 80 years old.
The first metro line was launched in 1935. But a long-term metro plan was published in Izvestia back in 1931
the first official metro map from 1935. Apparently, Muscovites went to bed quite late even then. The subway worked until one in the morning
On the eve of the war, in 1939, plans for the development of the metro were quite global
The war, of course, brought inevitable adjustments, but the construction of the subway did not stop even then. As many as seven stations were commissioned. After the end of the Second World War, Muscovites were announced the familiar ring line, which was introduced in two stages
By 1954, subway maps appeared on carriages in black and white. The ring line has finally closed
In 1957 the scheme became color again. Each branch acquired its own specific color, in which it is represented to this day. It’s probably not easy for colorblind people in the subway
In 1961, an attempt was made to graphically, without using colors, separate different branches from each other. This option turned out to be, to put it mildly, unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Muscovites have already gotten used to the color map. It is interesting that the first line in all cities where the metro appeared was always marked in red.
In 1962, despite the Iron Curtain, a map appeared in English
And even in French. Only all the branches were red.
The Moscow metro became the pride of the country, it was talked about around the world. To surprise everyone even more, a diagram was made on silk
In 1970, Soviet designers first tried to move away from smooth lines to a more strict image. Minimalism and clarity are in fashion
By 1980, they decided to depict the ring as an oval. The designers believed that this would make it easier for passengers to understand complex junctions at transfer stations in the city center
In 1983, they decided to drop the oval on its side.
But this option did not last long. In 1984, the ring became a ring again. And the scheme from now on was very similar to the current one
In 1985, Gorbachev came to power, and perestroika and glasnost loomed on the horizon. Another version of the scheme for foreigners has appeared
In September 2003, a fundamentally new scheme was introduced, which disheartened many
Muscovites greeted her more than coolly. The map turned out to be inconvenient, the names of the stations were not readable, and it was easy to get confused in the branches. At the end of the year the scheme was replaced with a more thoughtful one.
In 2012, a competition was announced to develop a new scheme. Artemy Lebedev's studio won.
But here are photos of completely unsuccessful works.
