Arts for Transit and Urban Design

Chambers Street/Park Place

Andrew Ginzel & Kristin Jones

Oculus, 1998

Stone mosaic on walls throughout station complex; stone and glass floor mosaic at Park Place entrance

Oculus is located in passageways under the World Trade Center and was largely untouched by the events of 9/1l. Oculus will also be visible at the Cortlandt Street Station after construction is completed. Jones and Ginzel's work consists of over 300 unique mosaic renderings that use the oculus - the eye - as the central symbol. In their words, "Oculus was created to personalize and integrate the stations. Eyes are both subtle and strong - they engage passing individuals, allowing for meditation or inviting dialogue." The eyes are from the artists' photographs taken in New York , which were selected for the diversity of the subjects' eyes. An enormous central eye set in the floor, grounds the composition and serves as the centerpiece of a map of the world which radiates outward.