Subway-Color-Archive

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receive (February 2025)

The S-C-A aims to chronicle the layered chromatic and sensory-based elements of MTA platforms. 8th Avenue IND stations between 207th St. and Jay St. Metrotech have nearly a century of color history, now dissected and revisited.

Studies from 2023-24 highlight the columns that support this massive system and their expansive colorscapes. This NYC-based archive pursues tactile forms of chromatic reconstruction and archive-inspired color references:

SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Print material will be available in FEBRUARY 2025. ^{If you request(ed) a reference book, a USPS tracking number}^{will be sent to your submitted email.}

NEW items in the Newsstand. 2024 samples and last calls posted.

S-C-A 3D Scan - 34th, September 2023

The Subway-Color-Archive 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 or monitored by the MTA.

Stations:

103

96

Route map

Between 1932 and 1940, the city owned and operated the Independent Subway (IND). Unlike the privately operated Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit (BMT), this line was meant to be owned and operated by the municipal government. The three networks were unified in 1940. Current A, B, C, D, E, F, and G trains derive from the original Independent services.

Architect Squire J. Vickers designed an art deco-inspired wall tile system in which the color of stations shifts at express stations to aid underground navigation. The columns at these stations do not follow his pattern, but occasionally, they match.

The NEWSSTAND is: OPEN

Contact subway.color.archive@gmail.com for questions, comments, and image rights.

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