SOUTH FERRY TERMINAL: See it split, See it change

MTA Arts for Transit and NYCT Capital Construction Company | New York, New York

See it split, see it change is artists Mike and Doug Starns’ permanent installation commissioned and owned by MTA Arts for Transit for South Ferry Terminal in Lower Manhattan. The art links urban and natural networks. New York City’s physical origins are displayed as a 1640 map of Manhattan’s topography, overlaid with the current street grid and subway lines. Silhouetted images of trees and a single leaf’s venation preview Battery Park, located above the station. Integrated into the station, these elements form a two hundred fifty foot long, floor to ceiling, undulating wall, and a reinterpreted fare array fence at the station’s concourse entrance.

AMBA provided comprehensive art+design services as a consultant to the Arts for Transit team. The firm worked closely with the artists to translate their photographic works into a glass and mosaic wall and a water jet cut, stainless steel fence. Collaborating with the Starn Studio, AMBA researched and developed design solutions for the art lighting, the art wall’s structure and joint material, surrounding metal enclosures, and fence details. The firm created the technical architectural documents and provided shop drawings review for the installation of the art. AMBA directed the project interface between the artists and the agency from schematic design through construction administration.

Website main page image and project page images are generously provided by the Starn Studio. Photographs: © Metropolitan Transportation Authority