Arts for Transit and Urban Design

Astor Place

Milton Glaser

Untitled, 1986

Porcelain enamel on platform walls

Milton Glaser, widely known as a pioneering graphic designer (including the I ♥ New York logo) and print maker, created artwork for the Astor Place station that complements the existing historic fabric while making a bold and modern statement. The station holds excellent examples of terra cotta and mosaics, particularly the Grueby Facience Company's plaques that depict beavers, a source of the Astor family wealth from fur trading.

Glaser described his approach as, "basically a variation on the existing forms. By extracting fragments of the motifs on the tile panels, enlarging their scale, and placing these pieces in a random pattern, they take on the appearance of a puzzle." The result is a series of porcelain enamel panels in geometric patterns and color that echo the historic elements but present them in an entirely new way.