Riding on the Metro is part of the DC-area experience, but fewer folks have made the journey to WMATA’s Alexandria office. A giant, purple-tinted sculpture may change that. “Tunnel Vision,” installed in the lobby in late October, is a striking 1o-foot-tall creation that hangs from the ceiling. Step underneath it and gaze up to see an illusion that looks like the inside of a Metro tunnel with a train on the way.
The piece is designed by architecture firm FreelandBuck as part of a WMATA program to install new art in buildings and stations. According to Brennan Buck, a principal at the firm, the installation was modeled after the Gallery Place-Chinatown station. “There are multiple lines that cross, and tunnels that overlap and intersect. We thought it was just a really beautiful sequence of spaces,” he says.
Though not 3D printed, the installation was constructed with LED lighting and printed aluminum wrapped around a metal frame. “It’s a pretty new technology,” Buck says. Holes cut into the aluminum sheets are meant to look the rectangular pattern on the walls and ceilings of Metro stations.
You can check out “Tunnel Vision” inside WMATA’s Virginia building (2401 Mill Rd., Alexandria). To learn more about the installation, Buck is participating in a talk at the site on Tuesday, April 30.
