NoMa Parks Foundation Opens Rain Installation in M Street NE Underpass

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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. (more…)

The NoMa Parks Foundation is ready to officially turn on the 4,000 light rods hung in the M Street NE underpass on Thursday evening. Rain, designed by Thurlow Small Architecture + NIO architects, includes LED light rods hung from the ceiling of the underpass in a series of vaults. The lights will stay on around the clock and will respond to activity in the underpass. Read more.

M Street is getting a new look—well, at least, their underpass is! Crews are steadily working to create four separate underpass parks in the NoMa area. Read more.

Work to brighten the otherwise-drab underpass on M Street NE is underway. Crews have begun installing “Rain,” the first of what will eventually be four underpass parks in NoMa. Read more.

A NoMa underpass’s transformation from a dark, shadowy place to a light-filled art park has begun. Read more.