Mapping Modernity: Sony Walkman and the London Underground Map

This study examines the London Underground Map, redesigned by Harry Beck in 1931, as a transformative object of modern spatial representation and a symbolic tool of visual culture. Beck’s schematic map, which diverges from traditional geographical accuracy, is not merely a visualization tool for a transportation network, but also a design revolution that reshaped the perception of the modern urban experience. With its simplified lines, color codings, and abstract structure, the map reflects modernist principles—such as order, efficiency, accessibility, and network connectivity—while reconfiguring urban mobility both physically and mentally.In this context, the article argues that Beck’s map functions not only as a historical artifact but also as a cultural text. Through the example of the 2008 Sony Walkman advertising campaign, it analyzes the map’s various forms of reproduction in different contexts and shifting cultural meanings. The theoretical perspectives of Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory, Nicolas Bourriaud’s relational aesthetics, and Stuart Ewen’s critique of media culture offer a framework to interpret the map as both a technical and ideological object. The cultural space in which the underground map and the Walkman intersect provides significant insights into the urban individual’s relationship with space, their understanding of mobility, and strategies of visual representation.