지하절

Different people and cultures have different ideas about things we perceive as certain. Take a subway station for example, to some it is a place where you spend time waiting, to others it is a place you are before you leave. To those who wait the need for simulation while waiting seems obvious, to those about to leave, a clean efficiency is all that is necessary.
Both of these people have had their time to shine it seems in the design of subway stations around the world.
Some of them are impressive in the almost surgical nature of their clean efficiency, they gleam like the inside of a hypodermic needle, their stairs and paving glisten like the grooves of a gun barrel. Even the advertising is streamlined in its attempt to impart a message to the passing consumer. Only a moment’s inattentive stare is all they desire to communicate the benefits of consumer discrimination. The stations of Tokyo’s light rail, the newer stations in Seoul, New York City and the Transmillenio of Bogota all try their hardest to impress with how modern they are, and how modern and efficient are one and the same.
Others seem designed to distract the participant from the actuality of their commute. Be it with giant murals like the subway in Chile, tiled mosaics like the Subte of Buenos Aires or even the spectacularly lit architectural feature roof of the metro in Washington D.C. These places offer art, places of refuge and the opportunity to be taken far away before entering the carriage.

These places are always entertaining to me, they are a snapshot of a segment of society. Public transport brings all ages and many different types together for a short amount of time to give them the opportunity to tolerate each other. Such things always are entertaining.