2023-2025 ROUTE: 8th Avenue

↘ ABOUT
↘ REFERENCE
↘ MEMORY

NEWSSTAND

SERVICE ANNOUCEMENTS:
✺ SEEKING:R46, R62/62A, and R68/68A train photos. PHOTO DROP

✺ The January-March bulletin is live.

✺ Printed references will be available in APRIL 2025. If you request(ed) a copy of the booklet, a tracking number will be sent to you upon release. Thank you for your patience.

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"Our concern is the interaction of color; that is, seeing what happens between colors... Colors present themselves in continuous flux, constantly related to changing neighbors and changing conditions. As a consequence, this proves for the reading of color what Kandinsky often demanded for the reading of art: what counts is not the what but the how.” - Josef Albers, Interaction of Color (1963)

ABOUT

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The Subway-Color-Archive (S-C-A) aims to chronicle the layered chromatic and sensory-based elements of MTA platforms. 8th Avenue Independent Line (IND) stations between 207th St. and Jay St. Metrotech have nearly a century of color history, now dissected and revisited. Studies from 2023-25 highlight the columns that support this massive system and their expansive colorscapes.

✺ Contact

↘ This research is supported by the 2023 Independent Projects program, a grant partnership of the New York State Council on the Arts and The Architectural League of New York. Independent Project grants are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State legislature. The S-C-A is not affiliated with the MTA.

Columns from 207th St. to Jay St. Metrotech

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REFERENCE

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PRINT

A free comprehensive booklet will be available in APRIL 2025. First print: 350 copies. See bulletin for more information.

✺ RESERVE YOUR COPY

BULLETIN

Occasional updates on project developments and related news, events, and perspectives.

2025

↘ January-March a farewell to the R46, 62, 68

2024

↘ August-December Pre-print

↘ June/July Final Parts

↘ May Forming Palettes + Compositing

↘ March/April On the Ground

↘ February Prioritizing Parts

↘ January New Year

2023

↘ September-December Introduction

8th Avenue IND line: dissected column paint chips (2023-24)

1931-2024 column reference palettes

WET PAINT

The path to pursue the S-C-A surfaced in a seminar called The Polychromatic Reconstruction of Architecture (Spring, 2020) taught by David Gissen at the Yale School of Architecture.

The pilot project developed during this time, “Wet Paint: A Study of Subway Columns,” focused on the 23rd Street E/C station, a local stop with moderate foot traffic. Paint chips were collected from the platform, dissected, and examined for chroma, thickness, and texture. Seven unique color phases emerged. Each progressive column reveals a new portal to the layer below.

3D prints (2024)

R62 3D Scan
December 2024