A group of architects and designers transformed the MBTA from a hot mess into a streamlined public transportation system in Boston. See the design secrets they used to get you where you want to go and not hopelessly lost.
You may want to put on your tinfoil hat next time you walk through Boston’s transportation system, because your mind is being controlled.
Well, it's less mind control and more of a series of tiny design choices that some smart people implemented to help guide you throughout the city.
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Public transportation in the Boston area was a mess when the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was established in 1964. So they hired a group of architects and designers from Cambridge Seven Associates to establish guidelines for stations, trains and everything else in the city’s public transportation.
We talked to two crucial members of the team, architect Peter Chermayeff and designer Tom Geismar, about how they implemented details that would make using Boston’s public transportation easier.
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Colors, map design and even gaps in stairs were considered to help both out-of-towners and locals find their way through the system. The choices they made 50 years ago can still be seen whenever you travel throughout the city.
Peter also shared why he chose the colors of each of the original rapid transit lines -- but fans of the Orange Line might be disappointed.
