Wet Paint: A Study of Subway Columns
Advisor: David GissenSeminar: Polychromatic Reconstruction in Architecture
Spring 2020
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. These 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.
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. These 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.
!GOOD NEWS! This project received funding in 2023. For updates, check out the subway-color-archive
Thank you to everyone who made this project possible and inspired me to continue the investigation.
