Curbed DC: In NoMa, Another Train Underpass Lights Up as Public Art

On Tuesday, a new visual experience opens in NoMa’s L Street NE underpass, one of several passageways beneath elevated rail tracks that run through the neighborhood. “Lightweave,” a responsive lighting display designed by San Francisco-based design studio Futureforms, is the NoMa Parks Foundation’s latest installation in the neighborhood and part of a $50 million grant. The display consists of six formations of cloud-like, lattice LED tubes suspended below the ceiling of the underpass between First and Second streets NE. With three formations on either side of the underpass, the tubes react to ambient noise, such as trains passing on the tracks above or cars driving along L Street NE. Read more.

NoMa is preparing to break ground on the new Tanner Park in January, potentially bringing the first large green space to the near northeast neighborhood by next fall. The NoMa Business Improvement District and its contractor Forrester Construction have nearly all the necessary permits in hand to begin work on the 2.5-acre space next to the Metropolitan Branch Trail north of New York Avenue, representatives said at an Eckington Civic Association meeting Monday. Construction is expected to take 10-12 months. Read more.

The NoMa Parks Foundation has begun the process of selecting a name for its new large park off the Metropolitan Branch Trail north of Florida Avenue. Taking into account some of the controversy over naming the space directly after the neighborhood, the organization is looking to local history and landmarks for possible ideas. Read More

This rising neighborhood just north of the U.S. Capitol takes its name from its location – north of Massachusetts Avenue NE. Slurp oysters and buy spices at hip gourmet destination Union Market, rent a bike and hop on the Metro Branch Trail or explore new businesses opening in old warehouses. Read more.

Next to the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) and north of the New York Avenue bridge, there is a vacant, green space, known as NoMa Green. Recently, new plans were finalized for the area to eventually become a space for children with a playground as well as a space for dog owners with a dog park. Read more.