![]() ![]() With a ridership of 750,000 passengers each weekday, the L is indeed a massive public art exhibition. The CTA recently announced an extension of this program, adding another 11 transit stations in four different lines and, for the first time, a bus terminal. While not equally distributed, they are present along all lines: 18 are along the brown line 12 along the red line 9 along the pink line 8 along the purple line 2 along the blue, orange, and green lines and 1 along the yellow line (some of the stations are served by multiple lines). Through the Arts in Transit Program, funded by the Federal Transit Administration, and CTA’s Adopt-A-Station program, the L has more than fifty pieces of art located in forty stations. In total, 146 stations that dot the landscape of the city.īut the L is more than public transportation to take us from point A to point B of the city. Some lines and stations have disappeared since the first pre-CTA L started in 1892 and others have been added, most recently two stations designed by Ross Barney Architects south and west of the Loop in the Green Line. The Loop is the core from which you start a trip that allows you to understand the scale of the city, and discover the culture, history, and diversity of its communities. Wrapping around the Loop, it extends out radially to the north, south, and west to the edges of the city and even into some of the neighboring suburbs. In a way, there is a sense of civic engagement, and even commitment, with the city when taking public transportation.Ĭhicago’s rapid transit system, known as “L” for “elevated,” is the third busiest in the United States after the New York City Subway and Washington Metro. First, it is convenient when you consider the time and money you save, but it is also an opportunity to share your daily routine with thousands of citizens and to take notice of ordinary and extraordinary spaces of the city as you walk to and from the stations and ride the trains. My way of moving around the city is based on walking, some cycling, and, for the most part, using public transportation. For the last fifteen years I have not owned a car and, when I moved to Chicago, my wife and I purposely looked for a place to live where we were not dependent on a car for our daily lives. For a brief period of time in the late 90s, I had a car back in my hometown of Bilbao, but that was it. I can’t recall the last time I drove a car. Iker Gil was invited to contribute his essay titled “Art Encounters.” The essay looks at the value of the public transportation system not only as way to move from point A to point B but also as a city-wide public art exhibition. ![]() The Chicago Transit Authority has published a book on the art and architecture of the transit system. An essay discussing Chicago’s public transportation system as a city-wide public art exhibition ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |