Finest Architectural Illustrations

How to make the tube system better? Remove the trains.

I developed the Circle Line travelator concept while I was Design Director at NBBJ as part of a series of London ideas exploring how architecture and infrastructure could be rethought. The proposal imagined the London Underground’s Circle Line as a continuous moving walkway, turning a familiar transport route into a new kind of urban circulation system - a city under a city

It Solved a fundamental problem in transport, speed and density creates a stop start system leading to delays. The travelator promotes flow over speed increasing movement and allowing unlimited capacity. The project was published under a few different names, including Circle Line, travelator, and Walk the Line, but the underlying idea remained the same. It formed part of a wider body of London alongside No Shadow Tower and the floating Thames ice rink. Together, these projects reflect my ongoing interest in cities as systems of movement, serendipity, and perception.

​

Widely covered in international press and discussed with TFL's research department, the idea was deliberately speculative. But as with all good ideas they change peoples view of the city and can help bring real change.

​

Christian Coop (MSAI) is an Associate Partner at HTA Design and a leading architectural artist