As the start date for the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation project nears, more architectural renderings of the proposed changes to the Smith-9th Sts. station are finding their ways to the Internet. Above is rendering posted on Curbed yesterday, and frankly, it’s tough to guess what the MTA’s construction folks were thinking with this one.
My biggest problem with this proposed redesign is that this weird, metallic thing looks absolutely nothing like anything else in the subway system. Sure, the MTA should be keeping an eye on the future, but the original designs are at least evocative of the subway. This looks more like an installation at the New Museum than a subway stop. If the intentions here were to build a structure reminiscent of the Gowanus area’s industrial past, I don’t think this hair dryer, as someone on Curbed called it, is the right way to go.
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It’s this kind of aesthetic nit-picking that keeps anything from getting done in this city. It’s better than what’s there, and it’s not terrible! Anyway, you can be sure a neighborhood association or seven will be at the meetings to stop it, so rest easy.
I’d hardly call this “aesthetic nit-picking.” It’s an ugly design. The subways have something of a uniform look for their entrances and exits. If the MTA and their architects want to update that look, why not do something in line with previous designs? This thing has no place in the neighborhood there and hardly relates to the subways.
For a good plan for “subway entrances of the future,” take a look at the proposed Second Ave. Subway entrances. That might be overkill, but at least it looks like a subway entrance and not some chrome weirdness.
In your post about the T line entrances, you refer to the uniformity of the stations in some cases leading to lack of clarity. I agree, in landmark neighborhoods such as Soho or Midtown, the entrances should be subservient and utilitarian, but the Smith-9th Stop could stand a little dressing up, and the nice Helvetica signage does plenty to maintain continuity from station to station.
RE: the design, someone with some know-how did a lot of study and concluded that Smith-9th needs a hair dryer; I doubt it was the guy in the booth while doodling on the 4 am shift. Superficial judgments from one rendering often get people caught up in the irrelevant arguments that distract from the end-goal: a better station.
Hair dryer? I think it looks more like a robot beehive.
NYC Subway stations are not uniform. I see no reason that they need be. The little station houses along the Brighton line take their cues from their surroundings. West 8th Street incorporates themes from the Cyclone. 81st ties in with the museum above. Some el stations along the West End include Guastavino tiles under the platforms. That’s just for starters.
Back to Smith & 9th. This seems to take its cues from streamlined stainless steel railroad cars (or the diners inspires by them). Think corrugated sides of an R-32 car. The bulge on the corner could refer to water-towers or the big tank thing at the former Revere Sugar plant. Functionally, it’s probably a way to expand the space where passengers need to turn the corner. It’s an industrial look for an area with an industrial heritage. Also happens to tie in with the nearby lift bridge over the Gowanus.
The subway’s “look” is white bathroom tiles… I hardly call that an aesthetic that we need to be holding onto. If you go to Paris, some of the subway (Metro…) stations look nothing like each other and they’re gorgeous. After having just come back from Paris, I find the state of our subway stations completely embarassing. Would it really hurt to do something better than tiled boxes? What’s missing from this rendering is signage, subway maps, and subway ads. Those would help make this place look like an actual NYC subway system even with the crazy metal appearance.