Experiment in the University Underground Passage: visual culture in the underground transit areas

Lately the design of the underground passage ways and of the subway stations all over the world has become more and more interesting, which in itself is a benefit for the user, a turist attraction, and a prestigious objective for the cities.

In order to obtain an agreeable underground space, a permanent colaboration with the aboveground planning is required, not only by the simple presence of the access ways as an architectural insertion, but as a complex assembly of built elements or of ambient atmosphere.

In this respect we have been preoccupied to encourage the participatory practices in the development of new forms of the „street delivery” expression, so present today in the European cultural space; in our case however we have initiated the „subway delivery”, an innovating idea for conveing image and atmosphere between the aboveground built elements and the underground spaces of the subway stations and pedestrian passages.

The entire approach of the project has been aimed at making the general public and the cosponsors aware of the importance of the mass culture, by taking the art works to the most circulated areas in Bucharest. This project has been aimed on the one hand at creating customized exhibition areas within the subway passages and stations, and on the other hand at humanizing these underground transit areas.

It has also been tried to encourage young artists – students in architecture and interior design – by involving them in the promotion of the concepts, of the interior architecture and design projects, in the execution of their own projects.

The completion of the project consisted in the execution of some spatial modular display and sitting structures for the University underground passage, following a students’contest in two stages: a contest of an idea and an execution project.