Search Results for 'l street underpass'

L Street NE Underpass

March 15, 2023

Improving the L Street underpass was the second phase of NPF’s plan to transform the railway underpasses into sites of contemporary light-art installations. After the international design competition described above, San Francisco–based firm FUTUREFORMS (formerly known as Future Cities Lab) was named in June 2015 as the designer for the space. The firm is an award-winning interdisciplinary studio employing a team of artists, designers, architects, technologists, lighting designers, and more. Lead artist Jason Kelly Johnson said of Lightweave, “It was exciting working with the NoMa Parks Foundation and the community to bring this concept to reality. The idea was to create something interactive, playful, and unique to the site. We were inspired by the idea of translating sounds from the site into sculptural forms.” The installation work for Lightweave began in 2018, a few weeks after the unveiling of Rain.

The installation comprises six spiraling lattices of stainless steel and bent LED tubing suspended above the underpass sidewalks — three above each passageway, hung from freestanding armatures — that light up the space 24 hours a day, with LED colors changing and moving in response to sound waves from the sidewalk spaces and vibrations from trains passing overhead.

Lightweave was lit up and opened to the public on April 9, 2019. Sadly, as described above, it was severely damaged by a 2020 fire in the underpass. Because of the pandemic, the installation could not be repaired until 2022, when the Foundation paid for and supervised the restoration.

M Street NE Underpass

March 15, 2023

In April 2015, the NoMa Parks Foundation announced the selection of Thurlow Small and NIO architecten to create the design for the M Street NE underpass: Rain. The two firms had provided the design preferred by the judges and the community, had worked together over the previous two decades on several infrastructure and public realm projects, and had also completed more than 10 underpass projects. The construction partner was M.C. Dean.

Rain, which opened on October 25, 2018, features cascading LED lights housed in roughly 2,000 hanging polycarbonate tubes that bathe the space in a soft blue- white light and pulse in response to vehicular traffic in the underpass, giving the effect of a gentle rain shower. “Our tunnel proposal for NoMa does what all good urban parks do,” wrote the design team when the project was announced by NPF. “It offers a moment of openness, a space to breathe, and a place where thoughts can drift away.” M Street’s Rain installation glows with ever-changing, soft white light, making an enormously dramatic improvement in how pedestrians and cyclists experience the space. In 2019, Rain received the American Institute of Architects San Francisco Chapter Special Commendation for Infrastructure Enhancement.

NoMa Parks Foundation to Illuminate Lightweave Installation in L Street NE Underpass on April 9

April 03, 2019

For Immediate Release
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NoMa Parks Foundation to Illuminate Lightweave Installation in L Street NE Underpass on April 9

Six suspended lattices of steel and polycarbonate LED tubing will glow 24 hours a day, shifting colors in response to nearby ambient sounds.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the evening of Tuesday, April 9, the NoMa Parks Foundation will turn on the power for Lightweave, a dynamic and compelling light installation in the L Street NE railway underpass. Comprising six spiraling lattices of stainless steel and bent LED tubing suspended above the underpass sidewalks — three above each passageway, hung from freestanding armatures — the artwork will light up the space 24 hours a day, with LED colors changing and moving in response to sound waves from the sidewalk spaces and vibrations from trains passing overhead. Lightweave is the second of the NoMa Parks Foundation’s planned underpass “art parks” to open and was designed by interdisciplinary San Francisco art and design firm FUTUREFORMS. The first art park — Rain, in the M Street NE underpass — opened in October 2018. Read More

NoMa Parks Foundation Opens Rain Installation in M Street NE Underpass

October 25, 2018

For Immediate Release
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NoMa Parks Foundation Opens Rain Installation in M Street NE Underpass

4,000 LED-powered light rods that evoke the sensation of falling rain will glow 24 hours a day and pulse in response to traffic flow beneath the elevated railway.

OCTOBER 25, 2018 / WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The NoMa Parks Foundation turned on the power today for Rain, a dynamic light installation in the M Street NE railway underpass. Comprising 4,000 LED-powered polycarbonate rods suspended above the underpass sidewalks, the artwork will illuminate the space 24 hours a day and pulse like gentle waves of rainfall in response to the flow of vehicular traffic beneath the elevated tracks. Rain is the first of the NoMa Parks Foundation’s four planned underpass “art parks” to open and was designed by Thurlow Small Architecture of Oakland, California, working in conjunction with Dutch firm NIO architecten in response to an international competition held by the Foundation. Read More

UrbanTurf: NoMa BID Selects Rainstorm Installation For M Street Underpass

April 17, 2016

Construction will start this year on a new look for a central underpass in NoMa: perpetual rain. In the winning proposal to enliven the M Street underpass in NoMa, rain made of light will shower over commuters’ heads as they walk through the space. Read more.