Vienna: Subway Station

Historic TUBE ad

As seen at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

WIRED Mag: Feb 2011 issue

When I glimpsed the headliner of the February 2011 issue of WIRED magazine on the shelf, I had a little quiver of excitement.  The mention of anything "underworld" will do that for me.  

But the quiver was momentary.  As I bee-lined to the mag rack to further inspect, I fully assumed that the issue would be dedicated to, well, I don't know, graphic novel underworlds (perhaps a worthy thing to look into actually) or some random issue with the code name "underworld" that I had no clue about.

Lo and behold.  

Lo and behold.  The Feb. 2011 issue was really, indeed dedicated to real issues of the "underworld."  Not just the physical underworld, my typical arena of focus, but societal underworlds too.  Profiles of historic con artists of varying talents, some rather explicit deconstruction of drug trade secrets, a profile of the burgeoning cyber criminal "industry" in Romania and more.

Then there is the  Q & A with photographer, Taryn Simon, whose work perhaps can be described as the result of pointing her lens directly on the subconscious of society. 

And the piece by writer Erin Biba and photographer Christoph Morlinghaus which, to my mental delight, is focused on the physical underground and provides a nice spectrum of photos to virtually visit various undergrounds on the globe. 

Underworld geeks, check it out. 

Helsinki's Underground Master Plan

A lot of recent media on Helsinki's Underground Master Plan

See the plan here

 

Artful Nudes + Underground Metro Scenery

Source: stylefile.fr

 Google "Jam Abelanet" and "Fantasies Souterraines" and prepare for a rich and artful spread of nudes +  metro photography work.

Link to Jam Abelanet's official Fantaisies Souterraines page 

Old Germanic Font

Alexanderplatz, Berlin

Odeonsplatz

Munich has a rich bevy of thoughtful subway designs. A visit to Odeonsplatz U-Bahn station marks just the beginning of underground explorations in Munich...

Inspiring civic engagement...on the subway

Great article on the Design Observer Group's site about one teacher's efforts to inspire civic engagement and journalistic practice among students and citizens alike...on the subways.

Read Article here:

Taking the A-Train

"Much more than we do now, we need to use civic engagement to achieve education goals. Being educated starts with being a citizen of your community. Right now in urban centers across the United States, there is a dearth of motivation and interest among students who believe that so-called "progress in the real world" is disconnected from their classroom experiences."

-Alexander Heffner, Taking the A-Train

I've often mulled over interesting and productive ways to utilize time spent on public transportation. Obvious choices are reading, catching up on your organizer or even just taking a moment to do nothing and rest. But I love this idea of starting a trickle of dialogue among passengers. One thing I thrived on when being a student was that opportunity to connect academic projects to "real world efforts"...to in fact make the project a real world effort.

I hope Heffner's students have a ball with it. Their work would probably certainly make for a great publication....one that would no doubt be a great read for anyone in transit between point a and point b who has some mental time to spare to chew on thoughts about society.

U-Bahn Lorenzkirche, Nürnberg

Photos by Annika Lundkvist

November 2010

First time heading into the underground layers and levels this time around in Germany. We have been in Bavaria for just over a month now and finally, upon the 3rd visit to Nürnberg, we headed into the Lorenzkirche subway station for a brief visit...

Brutalist Repetition: D.C. Metro

Graphic of Harry Weese's sketch of vaulted subway station for D.C. transit system

Source: thestatementblog.com

Photos by Annika Lundkvist

February 2010

Harry Weese's (architect) design of the D.C. metro system incorporates a repetition in using the Brutalist style and making extensive use of exposed concrete.

D.C. Underground: More than Metro

The underground Concourse at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is a spacious and fluid - an absolutely lovely addition as well as a complete pleasure to move through. I, in fact, moved through it a few times in the span of one late afternoon.

Photos: Annika Lundkvist

Mythical, Military and the Spaces In-Between

I've been m.i.a. a bit from this blog for a few reasons, the most pertinent one being that my underground explorations have been on hold for many, many months. While I am more than content to plunge through countless pages on the Internet to learn more of underground space developments worldwide and gawk at the varied manifestations of underground architectural imagery, I'm just not satisfied to merely post the slew of images I view. I am keen on seeing them in person, photographing the spaces myself, chatting, when possible, with the individuals who use them on a fairly regular basis.

Alas, I currently live in a region where underground space is simply not a popular commodity, nor where you will find interesting examples of it's use. When life and movement permit me to be in close range to explore these spaces again, I will be ready, camera aimed.

Until then, I just may dedicate a batch of posts to some of the weirder goings on with regards to underground space, namely, the dissemination of information that is, well, plainly weird. When this interest first took hold, I took to the nets to see what was out there and initially only came across a bevy of writings and references to literary works that were fiction? Fact? Who knows. The underground itself immediately connotes a general space that is immediately laden with notions of secrecy, hiding, death, captivity and- survival. The allegories are rich and seemingly endless- much like an impossible labyrinth. I will get to these later.

For now, an image of a space I would like to visit, but obviously chances are slim. NORAD's control room. Tucked deep inside a mountainous terrain, it is, without a doubt, a premier example of the reality of the military's (read: the military of many nations) necessary use of deep underground space, perhaps placing them at the frontier of underground building technology and perhaps even at the forefront of understanding human psychology and capacity to sustain for long periods of time in such space.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Villa Vals

Villa Vals in Switzerland.

SeARCH & Christian Müller Architects

Photos: Iwan Baan

Swiss Emergency Call Services

Absolutely gorgeous. AND it's an Emergency Call Center. Hurrah for creating beautiful spaces for workers in demanding and intensive services.

The historic merit of the space and surrounding buildings led to it's largely underground placement.

Architect: Santiago Calatrava Valls

Image Source (top): unidentified

Photo Source (bottom): galinsky.com

Underground Helsinki

(Image: Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki, Credits: Jon Hicks/Corbis, Source: Scandinavia for Design Lovers)

It makes perfect sense that my interest in the underground was born while living in Scandinavia. Stockholm has been referred to as a "swiss cheese" city (due to the plethora of carved out, underground facilities and spaces there) and other Scandinavian cities are host to an impressive range of well designed subsurface spaces.

I have a plethora of articles from the past few decades relating to all things underground...but for here and now, a link to one Finnish based architect posting on "Subterranea Helsinki." The Finnish capital is apparently the first city on the globe to have created an 'underground master plan, so it is one of the most obvious places to look to for pioneering and interesting architectural and planning concepts placed underground.

"Theater in the Rock"

Theater in the Rock, Tadao Ando

"Valkenburg"

I quite unfortunately have no source info for the above image. If and when found I will add it. The sole info I currently have attached to the graphic is "Valkenburg"(and it's not the Valkenburg in NL). I suspect it is from an article for a conceptual design for a building in Norway.

Nights with Berliner Unterwelten

One of the most memorable evenings in my life was spent in the refurbished bunker space of Berliner Unterwelten's headquarters at the Gesundbrunnen subway station. Since it's inception in 1997, the organization has done a tremendous amount of work including: documentation of underground historical structures, conversion of war time bunkers into museum and association headquarter space and guided tours, which have proved very popular. As a "Society for exploration and documentation of subterranean architecture" they are a model organization- definitely for groups dedicated to researching underground space in their city, as well as for a preservation societies. They've honed in on a very specific niche that also does tremendous justice to the extensive underground architecture of Berlin. The organization is prolific in publication and prodigious in activity.

While living in Berlin, attending their meetings was an absolute highlight of my week. To be in a room, for regular meetings, filled with people as passionate about the underground as I was, albeit in different ways, was a great thing.

It's difficult, and not very fun, to imagine being crammed with scores of other people in the bunker space that Berliner Unterwelten's tour guides take you through. The guide will paint a portrait of what this bunker space was like during wartime- a visual that needs to be heard as indeed, that is what the buildings stand as a testament to.

But on a celebratory New Years eve, with candlelit dark spaces , wine, charming music and good company, the atmosphere was just right. In fact, I wasn't terribly keen on leaving. I have clearer appreciation for the bunkers-converted -to-home (or underground "mansion") movement partly due to this time spent at Berliner Unterwelten's headquarters. It's very pleasant, if you're the type who likes this space, and you're there out of your own will and interest.

Fantastical Underworld

Fantasy and science fiction films are fertile breeding grounds for the imaginings of how the 'Underworld' appears and how humans make use of the underground in, typically, near and distant futures.

My jaw dropped several times in seeing Pan's Labyrinth for the first time. Not only is the film absolutely gorgeous and disturbing at once, it is compellingly dense with mythological allusions. Some of Ofelia's (the main character) key moments- both harrowing and exhilirating, occur in the underworld. Her first challenge of finding a key occurs in the earthy root system of a tree. Her second challenge brings her to the banquet which she must not touch (and possibly before one of the creepiest creatures ever depicted on film). Like Persephone, who having been taken into the realm of Hades, was permitted to leave under the condition that she ate nothing while down there, Ofelia is under similar instructions. Both fail, Persephone with the fated pomegranate seeds and Ofelia with the allure (and consumption) of the grapes. Yet Ofelia's fate is not quite sealed yet and her escape is necessary to bring her full circle to the space of her true belonging.

In the end though, Ofelia's efforts, and apparent rebellion, result in a tragic and quick departure from Earth, as she knew it. They also culminate in her arrival home. She is reunited with those who she descended from and the depiction of this underworld "kingdom" is truly breathtaking.

I for one would like to request a Part II. Ofelia's Beautiful Dark Kingdom.