How to Make a Subway Map with John Tauranac
Hear from an author and map designer who has been creating maps of the NYC subway, officially and unofficially, for over forty years!
For the first time since its closure in July of 2018, the 28th Street on the Lexington Avenue 4 and 6 line subway station has just opened. The most striking and exciting change to the station is the mosaic artwork on the platform, although the entire station has been revamped with a modern aesthetic, thanks to new sleek signage and black and metallic design features, along with structural and safety improvements made.
The platform walls are covered in beautiful glass mosaic murals created by Miotto Mosaic Art Studio based on drawings by artist Nancy Blum. The murals depict vibrant red buds, hellebores, witch hazel, magnolias, daffodils, hydrangeas and camellia plants, all flowers that represent the perennial collection of the Madison Square Park Conservancy. Blum told the MTA that the goal of her design was to capture the magic of the park and enhance the station environment for subway riders.
It is clear that the station has undergone a major transformation over the past six months that it was shutdown. In addition to the superficial changes, the MTA has listed among the improvements made to the station: repaired structural steel and concrete, new lighting, guardrails and railings, repaired stairways, cleaned and repaired tiled walls, replaced and repaired concrete platform floors, new tactile warning strips and new technological features like customer information screens, countdown clocks, Help Point intercoms and security cameras. Hopefully the improvements made to the 28th street subway station are a sign of things to come for the rest of the system as construction and upgrades continue in other stations.
Discover more art in the subway on an upcoming Underground Art in the Subway Tour!
Behind-the-Scenes Tour of NYC Subway Art
Next, check out 20 Original Examples of NYC Subway Art and Top 10 Subway Art Installations in NYC
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