As I travel to London regularly, I inevitably spend time on the Underground. Perhaps not enough time though to have become one of those people who sees it a necessary but rather unpleasant part of their daily commute. It’s certainly as diverse a mix of people as you could ever find and all integrating in one way or another with the built environment. I’m sure the same can be said of any subterranean transit system around the world.
Two things generally go through my mind when using the Underground. Firstly why can’t we harness all that wasted energy that makes us feel even more uncomfortable down there? Secondly, why do tourists wear new training shoes?
Granted the two questions are pretty diverse and you’re probably wondering what goes through my mind. That’s a fair point, but in some ways they are linked. We know the Underground can be an uncomfortable experience; be that over-heating or the daily record breaking attempts at “how many people can we fit on one train?”
When I say tourists wearing training shoes, I really mean those who from their demeanour would clearly not normally go anywhere near a pair but for their holidays and they have made the purchase especially for the occasion. They have taken the decision that comfort is perhaps the most important thing and that decision be it sub-conscious or otherwise, suggests they wouldn’t find holidaying in a city very comfortable in their normal attire. So much so that they have chosen to purchase footwear purely with that in mind.
Comfort is something we take for granted. It’s one of the reasons we have a built environment in the 21st century, so to actively change our behaviour to feel comfortable in it seems at odds with our goal as built environment engineers.
What we need is training shoes with built in fans!