artist and designer ian callender introduces ‘uptown underground’, an installation that projects a geographically accurate view of the new york cityscape on the interior of NYC subway cars. drawing influence from the popular glass-bottom boat tours, the intervention is implemented with four projectors that cover the entire ceiling of a single wagon, casting images of movement through the city and reconnecting passengers with the urban surroundings.

ian callender projects new york cityscape on the ceiling of moving subway trains
installation view
all images courtesy of ian callender

 

 

with ‘uptown underground’, ian callender essentially explores what it would be like to pull the ceiling off of a subway car and bring the experience of moving through the city down into the train. in order to achieve this, the installation employs four projectors, connected to raspberry pi’s which communicate over a peer-to-peer wifi network. in this way, they synchronize and accordingly offset as informed by geolocation and acceleration data from a cellphone application. designed for ease of installation and removal, the entire project runs on battery power.

ian callender projects new york cityscape on the ceiling of moving subway trains
installation view – detail of ceiling projections

 

 

the artist has already installed a series of interventions since late 2019, without permission, on six moving trains that travel from brooklyn bridge–city hall to 96th street (a ride of approximately thirty minutes). the project was a finalist in the media architecture biennale ’20 awards in the future trends and prototypes category.

ian callender projects new york cityscape on the ceiling of moving subway trains
installation view – detail of clamped computer-battery-projector setup

intervention reconnects nyc subway ride to its urban context 4
mobile application: the intervention relied on a cell phone’s GPS and acceleration data in order to keep the projections in sync with the world above

intervention reconnects nyc subway ride to its urban context 5
elements and build: each unit comprises a clamp and two arms of a computer, a battery pack, and a projector.

intervention reconnects nyc subway ride to its urban context 6
concept render

intervention reconnects nyc subway ride to its urban context 7
concept diagram: section, reflected ceiling plan, and correlation of shots to offset timing

 

 

 

project info:

 

name: uptown underground
artist: ian callender

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom