The MTA project, Re-Envisioning the Elevated: Four Stations on the Astoria Line, has received an American Institute of Architects New York State 2019 Excelsior Award of Merit for Public Architecture. Earlier this month, the dD+P project team accepted the award at a reception in Albany, NY.

Re-Envisioning the Elevated is a project that set out to renew and rehabilitate four historic elevated subway stations in the highly residential, Queens neighborhood of Astoria. This award highlights three crucial elements of the project: a dedication to progressive and adaptive methodologies, responsible use of public funding as a means of responding to the present, and a connection to both the stations’ community and history.

Beginning in the 1980s, above-ground stations, once the crossroads of neighborhood activity and commercial hubs, were walled off with corrugated metal from the communities below. The renewal of these four Astoria line stations, 39th Avenue, 36th Avenue, Broadway, and 30th Avenue, change all that. Public spaces are now connected visually through elegant, yet simple designs that open each station’s mezzanine and platform. Art panels serve as exterior walls, elevating public art to the scale of infrastructure and connecting the community to transit.

The introduction of new materials, reconfiguration of spaces, and integration of technologies have established a new standard. Moving forward, these “pilot” stations are meant to rejuvenate the approach for future station design. dD+P is proud to have received this award and hopes that the elevated exposure of these similarly elevated terminals revitalizes an opportunity for the fabric of New York City to once again take pride in stations defined by open, well-lit mezzanines and vivid panoramas, characteristic of each respective community.

Click here to learn more about the 2019 Excelsior Awards on AIA New York State’s website.