WET PAINT
2020
Transit
NYC
Color
The subway
column paint chip is a nostalgic thing for many New Yorkers. Depending on the
station, the chips can reveal a wide spectrum of colors. A painted tree trunk
of sorts. Typically, columns are never fully stripped of their previous layer
of paint, creating a thick build up. The texture changes over time, edges
grow less defined, and debris between layers becomes increasingly visible. Train stops with heavy traffic have endured more coats of paint; the 23rd
street E,C station is a local stop with moderate foot traffic. Seven unique
color phases were found, the progression is investigated through a historical,
visual, and tactile lens.
The project initiated with the collection of paint chips throughout the
station. These were dissected to analyze the thickness and texture of each
layer and to establish a clearer color matching process. Colors
were matched with acrylic paint and applied to identical column maquettes,
mimicking the full-scale painting process over time. With each progressive column
a new portal to the layer(s) below is revealed.
Advisor: David Gissen
Seminar: Polychromatic Reconstruction in Architecture, YSoA
Contact for image and text reproduction.