I watched Disney-Pixar’s new movie Soul on Christmas day and thoroughly enjoyed it! It’s a story based in New York and one of the things that stuck out most to me, of course, is the details of the subway stations. The jazz club “Half Note” is in the village while Joe’s mother’s shop is next to an elevated 7 train, so I assume it’s somewhere in Queens. The animation team really nailed everything from color, texture, sound, to the overall vibe. Man do I miss a pre-pandemic New York!
THE ANATOMY OF GROUND ZERO
Last week, on the 19th anniversary of the tragic 911 attack, I shared my new Ground Zero Series, which was a collection of drawings that show what the 16-acre piece of land, where the twin towers once stood, looks like today. Here is the story behind it:
The first set, the Ground Zero Collages, was generated by the same axonometric view of the site, with different programs highlighted in each image. Even though these programs fit together tightly like Tetris pieces, each space has its own distinct character and atmosphere. And so I mapped each piece with photographs that capture the touch and feel of the space: The memorial park with lush greenery, the waterfalls the calming moving streams and cold grey stones; the museum the exhibits and dark solemnity, the Oculus the white marble, and the train platforms the escalators, signage and utility:
The second set, the Ground Zero Sketches, was generated by exporting different perspective views for each of the elements highlighted in white against a brown paper texture. In both series are these few key elements:
OVERVIEW (above ground): Freedom Tower (1 WTC), the Performing Arts Center (under construction), 2 WTC (under construction), the Oculus, 3 WTC, 4 WTC, and the World Trade Center Memorial Park and Museum which consists of the two pools, the memorial park, the Museum Entry Pavilion, and the West Vent Structure
WATERFALLS: The two square-shaped negatives (North Pool and South Pool)
MUSEUM: Entered through the entry pavilion, with the ribbon that hugs the south edge of the North Pool descending into to the underground exhibition space with the double-height slurry wall
OCULUS: The skeleton-looking structure designed by Santiago Calatrava with an oval atrium. Through the grand curved steps it is connected to the PATH train concourse and the linear West Concourse, which runs on the north of the North Pool and underneath Fulton Street. It leads to Brookfield place on the other side of the West Side Highway. You can also enter the Freedom Tower here.
PATH TRAIN AND SUBWAY (1 TRAIN): The 1 Train (WTC Cortlandt station) is one level above the Oculus’ oval atrium (train runs under Greenwich Street), and the PATH train (World Train Center station) is one level below the PATH train concourse.
This site means a lot to me, because I actually worked on the museum when I worked for Davis Brody Bond when I first came to the US in 2007. I found this screen shot from that many years ago, on which a friend commented by saying “it really looks like a wound”:
And I was lucky enough to be able to visit the site. These were taken from the lower level, where the slurry wall was exposed and the PATH train was running on a temporary structure:
Here are two books about the site, one about the politics and another one about Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind the original site plan. I loved and still own both, and would love to read them again some day:
Twelve years later, with my background in making 3d subway drawings, folks at the New York Review of Architecture (NYRA) reached out to me about making a drawing for their Sept 2019 issue. The assignment was to make a simple section, which should only cut through a few things; but in order to understand how things fit together, I thought I might as well build a 3D model.
There are actually a good number of drawings about each specific piece out there- the original site plan, museum floor plans, Oculus floor plans, and even some schematic sections are all a google search away:
There just wasn’t one comprehensive drawing that shows everything at the same time, especially when it comes to things below ground. Here is my first attempt to sketch out the spatial relationships:
With a little detective and stitching work, I put together this 3D model in Sketchup:
Cutting halfway through the North Pool in this study perspective with human scale, you can see there are two levels of shops with structural ribs in the West Concourse, the North Pool next door, and the Oculus lookg like a bird in the background:
And from there and a little experimenting with Sketchup’s presentation styles, this was the final image that appeared on NYRA:
Since I already had the model, it was a waste not to have some fun and do more with it. Zooming back out to birds eye view, we get two sections like these:
I eventually decided to go with the more sketchy style with pencil strokes in the final drawings. You can find the drawings in higher resolution in the Ground Zero page.
I am glad I found time during this pandemic to put this together, which helped me feel that at least some things have come full circle. Through the act of objectively piecing the puzzle together and subjectively presenting it in my own way, I had an odd satisfaction of having some sort of clarity, followed by a sense of control and peacefulness.
I can’t wait for this pandemic to be over so we can get back in action. Until then, stay safe, and wear a mask!
happy 2020
Hello world, happy new year!
Damn, did I really not write anything here in 2019?! It hasn’t always been easy to keep posting to all my social media outlets, but I assure you, Project Subway is still going! Here’s a quick recap of a few key things that happened in 2019…
Visible City
In July, I presented, along with Eddie Jabbour (Kick Design), George Kokkinidis (Design Language), and John Schettino (Penn Station Atlas) at the “Visible City” lecture at the AIA Center for Architecture. The content of my presentation was not very different from my previous presentations, but the panel discussion at the end was interesting. It’s always inspiring to see Project Subway into context with all these other transportation and graphic design related projects. If you missed it, check it out here:
New York Review of Architecture
In September, I worked with folks at the New York Review of Architecture (NYRA) on a drawing of the 9/11 memorial. It is a section cut through the memorial pool, the passage that leads you from the Oculus to Westfield mall through a bunch of shops, and the Freedom Tower, with Calatrava’s bird-like structure in the background.
The NYRA is a paper, black and white, two-sided one-pager that gets published and distributed every month by a group of young graduates who care about architecture and the urban environment. Subscribe or follow them on instagram.
Accessible Station Lab
Then, in September, Project Subway finally made it into an actual subway station! I worked with the MTA on the Accessible Station Lab at the Jay Street-MetroTech station in Brooklyn. It includes 3D diagrams mapping out all the accessible routes within the station, as well as alternative route diagrams at elevators, with information about what to do when an elevator is out of service. Be sure to go visit that station - there are many clever wayfinding apps and installations. And if you have any ideas, comments, or feedback, be sure to leave a note on the web form.
So these are the highlights of 2019. I have a few things in the works and I can’t wait to share. Stay tuned!
We are now on Etsy!
Project Subway NYC finally launched an Etsy shop! From now til Cyber Monday (11/26), all prints will be on sale (20% cheaper than our original SquareSpace shop). Check them out, they make good Christmas Gifts!
Recap: Comedy Show at Caveat
I was so honored to be invited to do a presentation at Caveat back in September, and I had a blast!
For those of you who haven’t been, Caveat is a comedy club in the Lower East Side, and is New York’s newest speakeasy stage for playful, intelligent nightlife. They have a series called “Why Your Train is F*cked” and they put on a show every month, where the two hilarious hosts (Meg and Justin) tell you why your train, as the title suggests, is f*cked. Their next show is on Thursday Nov 29 - go check it out!
Here is a little clip of my presentation:
Huge shoutout to Meg and Justin for putting on a fantastic show!
NEW: X-RAY CLUSTER SERIES!!
Hello world!! It's been a while!
I am so excited to announce that our new drawing series is finally here - X-Ray Station Clusters!
This time around, instead of one station per drawing with colored platforms, we have multiple stations per drawing and colored tracks that connect them all. See how complicated and crazy this intertwining network is! We focused on two main areas - Downtown Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan, both with stations very close to each other, hence, the clusters.
Check them out, and also check out this feature on Wired!
LAFAYETTE AVENUE
#JustKeepSketching
COURT STREET - BOROUGH HALL
#JustKeepSketching
WORK IN PROGRESS
I am trying to do something but it's not really going the way I want it to. So I just mindlessly Photoshop some textures, add some filters and shadows, and layer things on top of each other... this is a random moment that I quite like:
LEARNING FROM SEOUL
Just came back from Asia! This time I stopped by Seoul - nice city! It was a short trip but I managed to ride their metro a few times and notice some interesting things about the way signage is done.
This sign gives you the distance to the nearest exit in meters:
This one gives you the previous station and the next station (as opposed to the terminal station of that line):
And this one is a 2D map with 3D buildings - a hybrid. I am not sure how I feel about it, but I am intrigued!
HOBOKEN PATH STATION
As January has passed I am recharged and ready to get out and start drawing again.
I started this project two and a half years ago and named it with "NYC" because that's all I set out to do, to draw the NYC subway stations. Little did I know the high rent, tiny apartments and a series of life events would eventually urged me to look for an alternative down the road - I now live in Hoboken New Jersey. I still work in the city though so I commute every day by taking the PATH train. Which brings me to my point - I am going to try to draw the PATH stations. Starting with Hoboken where I live, and also the 33rd Street station because I already drew the 34th Street subway station and I have been promising people I would complete it by adding the PATH portion one day. I think it would be helpful to illustrate how the PATH stations in Manhattan intertwine with the subway stations!
currently reading
Winter's (especially THIS winter) too cold for me to go into the stations, so I decided I'll take January to read and organize my thoughts.
YEAR IN REVIEW, AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Happy holidays everyone!
2017, what a year! I hustled, drew, and drew some more. Here are some of the highlights of this year:
Thank you for all your love and support! Really means a lot to me. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and some much deserved time off. I am going to rest up myself - and plan ahead for an exciting and productive 2018. Stay tuned, cheers!
TRANSITSLAM 2017!
I am really honored to be selected as one of eight presenters at Transit Center's Transitslam this year. Each presenter will present for 6 minutes about a transit-related topic, with 20 slides at 18 seconds apiece.
Details are as follows:
Thursday, December 14th
6-8 PM
TransitCenter
1 Whitehall Street, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10004
More info is available at http://transitcenter.org/events/transitslam-2017/
Hope to see you there!
4"x6" postcards
Launching postcards of the X-ray series at the end of the year... test batch is looking good!
WE'RE ON TWITTER! #FOLLOWUS!
Project Subway NYC is finally on Twitter! Follow us @projsubwaynyc, we will keep you posted with the latest news about New York, transit, city planning, maps, architecture, graphic design, data visualization, wayfinding, and more! #followus #socialmedia
IT'S HERE: THE ATLANTIC AVENUE - BARCLAYS CENTER PRINT!
By popular demand, the Atlantic Avenue - Barclays Center print is finally ready! After four visits and God knows how many sketches. Check it out in our gallery and shop!
This is Project Subway NYC's second attempt to look into stations in Brooklyn, hope to do more soon. Let me know in the comment which stations you want to see, and don't forget to follow us on facebook and instagram (@projectsubwaynyc) for updates!
47th-50th street rockefeller center (B/D/F/M)
So even just looking at the name of the station you know this is another hard one... it spans 4 blocks right off the bat! Although, the reason this is a tricky one has more to do with the fact that it's a combination of a large complex that is the Rockefeller Center and the subway station itself. It's hard to draw the line between which is part of the station and which isn't, since there are a few spots underground where the station mezzanine connects directly to the buildings above ground, and some of them connect to concourses. I'll take more pictures next time!
CURRENTLY READING
Atlantic Avenue - Barclays Center
By popular demand, I have started to document the Atlantic Avenue - Barclays Center station. This station is no joke! This is my second trip, and we will keep counting...