Fusion of Creativity in Rail Transit Stations: A Retrospective and Critique

Abstract

The past, present, and future provide a framework for this discussion of the fusion of creativity among artists, architects, and engineers represented in the design of urban rail transit stations. The fusion of talent has a highly recognized past. Washington's Union Station, built early in this century, was restored to its original grandeur and is a major tourist attraction in the nation's capital. The power of the state is exploited in the Moscow subway, where stations take on a decorative quality found in the great monuments of Europe during the Gothic and High Renaissance era of architectural history. Transit stations designed in the late 1960s and 1970s in this country have had limited involvement by artists. Washington's Metro has a unique image created by architects and engineers dominating the underground stations. The power of nature in architecture was realized in Atlanta's Peachtree Station, where a rock cavern became an integral part of the station. The most successful fusion of art, architecture, and engineering in the 1970s was realized in the Stockholm Metro's underground stations, where artists were involved in every aspect of the design. The present is represented by five stations in the Seattle Underground completed in 1990—a gallery of art and architecture. Five stations operational on the Los Angeles Metro Red Line and eight more under construction will bring to reality the fusion of creativity. The future may once again see artists, architects, and engineers combining their talents to produce landmarks that will endure through the twenty-first century as Washington's Union Station has done in this century.