Green, Oliver: Frank Pick's London

As managing director of the London Underground in the 1920s and the first chief executive of London Transport, Frank Pick (1878-1941), had more influence on the look of twentieth century London than any other individual. Frank Pick's London offers a unique overview of Pick's passionate belief in the social and civic value of applied art and design and its impact on London. Frank Pick's London explores an extraordinary contribution to the everyday experience of modern London. Pick commissioned now familiar publicity posters from the likes of Paul Nash, Edward Bawden, Graham Sutherland and Edward McKnight Kauffer, iconic upholstery fabrics by Marion Dorn and architecture by Charles Holden for the extension of the Piccadilly line. Pick's awareness of urban design is still with us today and can be traced through to the architecture of the Jubilee Line, the Crossrail project and Thomas Heatherwick's new bus for London.