NEW: X-RAY CLUSTER SERIES!!

Hello world!! It's been a while!

I am so excited to announce that our new drawing series is finally here - X-Ray Station Clusters!

This time around, instead of one station per drawing with colored platforms, we have multiple stations per drawing and colored tracks that connect them all. See how complicated and crazy this intertwining network is! We focused on two main areas - Downtown Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan, both with stations very close to each other, hence, the clusters.

How to get to the Oculus without setting foot above ground

How to get to the Oculus without setting foot above ground

A lot going on under Borough Hall in Brooklyn!

A lot going on under Borough Hall in Brooklyn!

 

Check them out, and also check out this feature on Wired!

We are super thrilled to be featured on Wired!!

We are super thrilled to be featured on Wired!!

HOBOKEN PATH STATION

As January has passed I am recharged and ready to get out and start drawing again.

I started this project two and a half years ago and named it with "NYC" because that's all I set out to do, to draw the NYC subway stations. Little did I know the high rent, tiny apartments and a series of life events would eventually urged me to look for an alternative down the road - I now live in Hoboken New Jersey. I still work in the city though so I commute every day by taking the PATH train. Which brings me to my point - I am going to try to draw the PATH stations. Starting with Hoboken where I live, and also the 33rd Street station because I already drew the 34th Street subway station and I have been promising people I would complete it by adding the PATH portion one day. I think it would be helpful to illustrate how the PATH stations in Manhattan intertwine with the subway stations!

2018-02-07 - Hoboken Sketch.jpg

47th-50th street rockefeller center (B/D/F/M)

So even just looking at the name of the station you know this is another hard one... it spans 4 blocks right off the bat! Although, the reason this is a tricky one has more to do with the fact that it's a combination of a large complex that is the Rockefeller Center and the subway station itself. It's hard to draw the line between which is part of the station and which isn't, since there are a few spots underground where the station mezzanine connects directly to the buildings above ground, and some of them connect to concourses. I'll take more pictures next time!

47-50th Street Rockefeller Center sketch

47-50th Street Rockefeller Center sketch

LEARNING FROM TOKYO

I went travelling in Tokyo back in February, and I was intrigued and inspired to see how graphics and information work in their subway system.

Even though I took on the quest to illustrate NYC's subway stations in 3D drawings, I have come to realize that because of the intricacy and complexity of the stations, a single drawing that shows one entire station often proves hard to understand. Therefore I have been looking for ways to represent the stations and directions in bite-size, easy-to understand information for subway riders.

In Tokyo, each train car has a digital display that shows the number of the car, the train's travel direction, as well as the location of escalators and elevators on the platform. Some of them also show transfer directions. My friend Ana told me that it was invented by a mom who could never get home on time because she was always lost in the stations - I find it very clever and helpful - comprehensive yet easy to understand!

OCR JOURNAL #002

Back in June last year I did a presentation at the Office for Creative Research (OCR) about Project Subway NYC. After that they kindly invited me to be a guest contributor for their annual publication called the "OCR Journal", and I wrote a piece called "The Missing In-betweens".

The OCR Journal is a collection of essays, visualizations and data ephemera from the last eighteen months, and contributors include their own staff as well as several guest writers. This issue's theme is "feedback". I know how hard the folks at their office have worked on it and today I am very proud and excited to share that it's released and available for sale! 

If you are interested, check it out at
http://ocrjournal.bigcartel.com/product/ocr-journal-002

OCR Journal #002 - Unique blue cover for my copy

OCR Journal #002 - Unique blue cover for my copy

"The Missing In-betweens" - an essay on the subway system, data, and feedback

"The Missing In-betweens" - an essay on the subway system, data, and feedback

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2016 had been an incredible year for Project Subway NYC, as I continued my effort to map out and draw more stations, I have also been blessed with opportunities to present, write, and discuss ideas from urban infrastructures, to architecture, to data visualization, and more. Thank you all for being part of this journey! I know I have not been super consistent with updating the site but rest assured I will keep moving forward with the project. I look forward to an exciting and fun 2017!

Here's a subway-station-looking Christmas tree. Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy new year to you all!

-Candy

WORK IN PROGRESS - FULTON STREET STATION

This weekend I made it to the Fulton Street station. It was special to me because this is the station which inspired me to do this project in the very beginning. I no longer work in that area so it has been a while since I went down there... somehow it's even more complicated than I remember!

Snapshot from Mezzanine

Snapshot from Mezzanine

Fulton Street Station Sketch 1

Fulton Street Station Sketch 2

And needless to say I have to go back...

ON SCALE

As people have noticed and pointed out, I exaggerated the heights in my axonometric drawings so things don't overlap (or at least overlap less). After looking at those drawings for a while I almost forgot I have the original computer models before I stretched them. They are far from precise, but just for fun I made a rendering of the Times Square station, with (relatively) correct proportions, and with human scale:

42nd Street Times Square