The Washington Metro is more than just a transit system; it’s a statement about government’s role in public life. We chat with Professor Zachary Schrag about the Washington Metro’s history, its stunning brutalist design, and the larger ideals it represents.

• LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
  
  
• Apple Podcasts
  
  
• Spotify

Show notes & links

• Find Zachary Schrag at his website, Bluesky and Twitter
  
  
• Wikipedia walk: Washington Metro, Harry Weese, Lance Wyman, WMATA Image Gallery
  
  
• Past Episodes worthwhile to listen to: Every Map a Poem with Peter Lloyd

Episode Takeaways

1. Metro Design Philosophy: The Washington Metro was designed with a sense of dignity, inspired by federal ideals of public architecture, aiming to create a system that would convey stability, enterprise, and aesthetic appeal for the nation’s capital.
   
   
2. Resistance to Urban Highways: Unlike many cities that prioritized highways, early residents and leaders in D.C. opposed highways cutting through neighborhoods, advocating instead for a public transit system.
   
   
3. Metro’s Hybrid Nature: The Metro serves both urban and suburban needs. Stations are spaced closely in the city core, similar to traditional subway systems, but spread out with parking options in the suburbs, making it a blend of urban subway and commuter rail.
   
   
4. Architectural Consistency: Architect Harry Weese’s design, including vaulted ceilings and indirect lighting, brought a cohesive, modernist aesthetic to all Metro stations, distinguishing it from other transit systems with patchwork designs.
   
   
5. Brutalist Influence: The Metro stations feature brutalist elements, with raw, exposed concrete and minimalistic design choices intended to showcase structural integrity and avoid excessive decoration.
   
   
6. Evolution Through Preservation: Metro’s design has had to adapt to changes like accessibility improvements and safety features over time. Recently, more attention has been paid to preserving the historical aesthetic, like the lighting revamp by Claude Engel to restore original lighting intentions.
   
   
7. Indirect Lighting: Lighting designer William Lamb’s use of indirect lighting created a unique ambiance, washing station ceilings with light to mimic a sky-like feeling, enhancing spatial comfort.
   
   
8. Iconic Map Design: The Metro map, created by Lance Wyman, became iconic for its clear, modernist design, though it became cluttered over time. Wyman was brought back to simplify it during the Dulles Corridor extension.
   
   
9. Practical Aesthetic Choices: Practicality was balanced with beauty; for example, granite platform edges provided both contrast for safety and embedded lighting to alert riders to approaching trains.
   
   
10. The Metro as a Symbol of Governance: Schrag’s concept of the “Great Society Subway” connects Metro to the ideals of government-led civic projects, representing what government can achieve in creating shared, public-oriented infrastructure.

Sponsored by:

Expedition Works

Hi. We’re a full–service design cooperative – let’s work together to make your journey with a purpose successful.

Guest Bio

Zachary M. Schrag [silent c, rhymes with bag and flag] studies cities, technology, and public policy in the United States in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.

He is the author of four books: The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro; Ethical Imperialism: Institutional Review Boards and the Social Sciences, 1965-2009; The Princeton Guide to Historical Research; and The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation.

Dupont Circle station by APK

“If this is going to be a subway for the federal city. It should look great. The station design for Metro has a couple of origins. One is the more idealistic sense of confidence in federal government confidence in the public realm that was expressed by the Kennedy administration in the famous guiding principles for federal architecture drafted by Daniel Patrick Moynihan that called on federal buildings, especially those in Washington to provide visual testimony to the dignity enterprise vigor and stability of the American government.”

Studies for alternative Metro

Studies for alternative Metro

Subscribe to the Newsletter

This post came from our weekly-ish newsletter. Feel free to signup below.

Please leave this field emptyOh hi there