Alexander Brodsky’s Venetian Lagoon in Canal Street Subway Station. Photograph by Andrew Moore
For two months as the year 1996 turned into 1997, a mirage of a Venetian lagoon appeared to commuters on a portion of abandoned tracks in the Canal Street station. Russian architect Alexander Brodsky , known for his work like Columbarium Architecture (Museum of Disappearing Buildings) with fellow architect Ilya Utkin in the 1970s, was behind the Public Art Fund installation in New York. Sitting in a 50 foot long tank of water, eight life-size gondolas were made out of tin carrying plywood passengers. The scene was illuminated by lights and the sound of water lightly lapping. Music accompanied the backdrop of a perspectival Venetian street scene.
The post Daily What?! There Was Once a Venetian Lagoon in NYC’s Canal Street Subway first appeared on Untapped Cities.