Port Authority

Great source of inspiration found right here in NYC. From Curbed:

“For those who long for the good ole days, when the underside of the three bridges of the Port Authority Bus Terminal was a skeezy section of Ninth Avenue, don't read this: they actually renovated it! The project started in 1995 with a little help from the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association; architects PKSB and Leni Schwendinger Light Projects were the team selected for the upgrade shortly after. Now, a mere 14 years later, it's finally complete. As of late last fall, both sides of the avenue are now clad in stainless steel shinyness, and the underside of the bridges are painted in a multicolored pattern. Because the project was designed in the 1990's, the lighting system is fluorescent (not awesome LED's) and the power consumption causes a lot of the underside to be turned off during the week. But at night, up and down Ninth Avenue, it's a glowing lime-streaked beacon."
Architect = PKSB
Lighting Design = Leni

March 2009 Pictures

Took a few snaps of the project in the rain. Aghhh, a blank canvas.

drawing to tile tranfer

Interesting technique used 20 years ago with a similar project. The tile transfer may be a great way to have a high quality design without the complexity of mosaic (to battle the weather elements)

"Carrying 35-millimeter cameras, Mr. Monpremier and the others were dispatched throughout the two-square-mile neighborhood to capture images of landmarks and typical urban scenes. The negatives of the best scenes were then made into slides, and the images projected onto a wall, where they were traced onto paper.

These drawings were transferred in reverse onto 23-by-30-inch linoleum sheets that were then stamped onto large sheets of clay. The large clay images were cut into pieces small enough to fit into kilns and fired, then painted with colored glaze, put back together like puzzle pieces, then finally mounted onto large frames.

86 st 20 years later

NY TIMES metro section "These are no masterpieces. Most of the young people who created them were troubled or struggling students trying to earn their high school equivalency degree. Were the murals to be removed and sold, they probably would not fetch anywhere near as much as the 200 subway art projects by professional artists commissioned since 1985 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Arts for Transit program."

7 Line Extension

NYO Story Link

The mayor was on hand to announce the start of tunneling in the 1.5-mile extension of the No. 7 line that would connect Times Square to the Javits Center upon completion (slated for 2013).

There goes some grime. Take a note.

"In 2007, city employees began surveying New York streets for conditions that affect residents' quality of life. Members of the SCOUT unit ride in three-wheel scooters or sedans looking for potholes, defective storm drains, failed street repairs and other conditions. New York has more than 6,000 miles of city streets, and the program's goal is to drive every city street every month of the year.

The unit's inspectors report visually-identifiable conditions into a wireless hand-held device that transmits the data to the mayor's office."

What happens once a a piece of graffiti has been SCOUTED? Does the city just paint over it like they do twice a week on at the 52nd st station? Do they just paint over the side of a crummy factory that could possibly be used for young artists to express themselves? Why not designate a wall in a neighborhood so kids can paint without fear of the cops?

Why cant we think through issues instead trying to accomplish bad goals (driving every block?WTF)? I think it would be helpful to stop on 1 out of 10 blocks to ask a citizen what they think, instead of pointing out flaws and driving off.

source: http://nyc.everyblock.com/scout/about/
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doitt/html/about/about_311.shtml

MTA Arts for Transit

"Arts for Transit encourages the use of public transit by presenting
visual and performing arts projects in subway and commuter rail stations." - MTA site

I will be applying via the MTA Arts for transit program for funding or to be placed on the station upgrade list. Please let me know if any readers have had prior MTA/city government experience in applying for arts funding

MTA arts link

NT Times: City Section

"upon my return to the States, I sorely missed those exotic environments. I figured the best place to find similar places was in the borough that claims more languages spoken and more passports possessed than any county in the world."

Part of the inspiration for the exterior mural will be the many cultures found in the surrounding neighborhoods of Queens. This piece in the times does a nice job of capturing the diversity.

ny times article

Mural Arts

The Philadelphia Mural Arts Project have developed over 2000 murals during the past 25 years. They are a major inspiration to this the 52st Project from their stunning creative work to the development process they have established. http://www.muralarts.org/

Just a start

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