The legendary 1978 clash between graphic designers Massimo Vignelli and John Tauranac epitomises "the challenges that designers still face every day," according to filmmaker Gary Hustwit, who has written a book about the event.
Held at New York's Cooper Union design school, the two designers argued over the merits of Vignelli's iconic, abstract system and Tauranac's geographically accurate proposal. Top and Above: Gary Hustwit's new book The New York Subway Map Debate
Vignelli's design was "a minimalist diagram of the subway routes, designed on a grid with 45- and 90- degree angles to the lines," Hustwit said.
"It was not intended to be geographically accurate, it was more like a service diagram in the vein of London's Tube map."
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