London: 2004-2008 ..It is almost bus porn.. (Robert Elms, BBC Radio London) ..Critics Choice.. (Time Out London) I was twelve or thirteen years old when I first saw a Routemaster. It was on TV at my parents house in Staufen, a small town on the edge of the Black Forest, where I grew up. I got hit by the striking bright red, the powerful design with its friendly looking round curves, the open platform with the chrome pole located in its centre, and the fact that the bus was still conducter operated. To me, the Routemaster conveyed a sense of original London street furniture, a classic piece of art and technology that was loved and valued by Londoners and visitors alike. After all the Routemaster presented a sense of communal spirit that just made it fun to ride on.
Last Stop Routemasters | Welcome
Last Stop Routemasters | Capacity
Last Stop Routemasters | RM1
Last Stop Routemasters | London
Last Stop Routemasters | Four in a Row
Last Stop Routemasters | Eye
Last Stop Routemasters | Face
Last Stop Routemasters | London Eye
Last Stop Routemasters | Son of the Mask
Last Stop Routemasters | Solid Machine
Last Stop Routemasters | Leather Seat
Last Stop Routemasters | 4-Seats
Last Stop Routemasters | Driver Cab
Last Stop Routemasters | Empty Upper Deck 01
Last Stop Routemasters | Laughing
Last Stop Routemasters | Oyster Card
Last Stop Routemasters | Bell Cord
Last Stop Routemasters | Ha!
Last Stop Routemasters | The Bush Babe
Last Stop Routemasters | Dreaming
Last Stop Routemasters | Feet
Last Stop Routemasters | Priority Seats
Last Stop Routemasters | Changing the Ad
Last Stop Routemasters | Petrol Pump
Last Stop Routemasters | Filling Up
Last Stop Routemasters | Phil
Last Stop Routemasters | Kwado Manson
Last Stop Routemasters | Platform Light
Last Stop Routemasters | Centre Point
Last Stop Routemasters | Mamma Mia
Breedon Books Publishing (UK): 2008 Special thanks to Arriva (Peter John Batty), David Azurdia, Travis Elborough, Jet, Ben Walters. Words: Ben Walters A design classic and an international symbol of London, the Routemaster bus became a landmark in itself, a global icon you could ride to work. Designed in 1954 by the London Transport Engineering Manager, Colin Curtis, and introduced in 1956, the Routemaster (RM) was a fixture of the capital's streets for half a century before its withdrawal from regular service at the end of 2005 - a decision that outraged thousands of the bus's admirers in Britain and around the world. This was no mere item of public transport, they insisted, but a living part of the city, worthy of appreciation, loyalty, even affection. Drawn from hundreds of images gathered over the Routemaster's final year of service, "Last Stop Routemasters" is not an exercise in protest, or even nostalgia, but a celebration of the unique and dynamic role the bus played in London life. These vibrant, witty and iconic photographs were mostly taken on the 19 and 38 routes, running from Finsbury Park in the north and Hackney in the east through the heart of the West End and on to Knightsbridge and Chelsea. They pay tribute to the bus' warm, weighty yet elegant design features, the spontaneous social interactions catalysed by its trusty conductors and the ever-changing conversation between inside and outside space allowed by its open back. In in these fluid, organic elements - all absent from the buses that have replaced it - that Obergfell finds the Routemaster's soul.
Last Stop Routemasters | Cover
Last Stop Routemasters | Welcome & Foreword by TRAVIS ELBOROUGH
Last Stop Routemasters | Anthony Harris & Phil Geraghty
Last Stop Routemasters | Vauxhall Bridge (2000) & Victoria Station
Last Stop Routemasters | London
Last Stop Routemasters | 785019 & Superior Crew
Last Stop Routemasters | 38
Last Stop Routemasters | Intro
Last Stop Routemasters | Depot
Last Stop Routemasters | En Route
Last Stop Routemasters | Aboard
Last Stop Routemasters | Last Stop
London Transport Museum: 2008 Last Stop Routemasters at London Transport Museum was my first solo exhibition. Special thanks to Oliver Green, Wendy Neville, Zimena Percival, Michael Walton, Claire Williams.
Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 01
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