Architecture: Vaults or Boxes? |
Next: Adapting the Design |
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Concept drawing, July 1966 | DeLeuw, Cather design, 1966 | Weese box design, 1967 | Bunshafts vault, 1967 | Station model, 1967 | |||||||||||||||||
Click on any thumbnail for a full-size image. | |||||||||||||||||||||
To make Washingtons
rapid transit system architecturally significant, National Capital Transportation
Agency officials hired Chicago architect Harry Weese. After touring subway
systems throughout Europe and Japan, Weese proposed spacious, column-free
stations beneath a vault. Civil engineers pointed out that for cut-and-cover
stations, a box-shaped station would provide more space for less cost,
and Weese agreed, proposing boxy stations for downtown Washington. But
the Commission of Fine Arts, which had to approve the design, insisted
on vaults, and Weese complied. When he presented a scale model of a coffered-vault
station, everyone was delighted.
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