The MBTA Transit Map as Wall Art

A New York-based couple has come up with an awesome way to repurpose public transit maps: make them into wall art. John Breznicky and Cayla Ferari run Lineposters, a site highlighted by The Atlantic Cities’s Eric Jaffe today. Their concept is simply to take the shapes of the train lines on various cities’ public transit systems and slightly alter them into a stripped down piece of abstract art. Here’s Boston’s:

Breznicky explains what’s cool about the idea to Jaffe:

We thought it was a unique interpretation. It’s also an ambiguous piece of artwork. It’s something where if you’re here, and you’re from here, you get it right away, and if you’re not from here you’ll say, ‘what is that, I want to know what it is.'”

And since the name of the game is simplicity, we actually prefer the Boston image to those for cities with more extensive systems like Paris or New York.

Count this as the one instance in which a limited public transit system offers an advantage. Silver linings!