Continuation Of City Memory In Metro Art

The rapid development of urban economy causes enormous increase of urban population; underground transportation has become indispensable when ground transportation is inadequate for the amount of traffic. According to statistics, daily passenger flow of Beijing subway has reached10million approximately; large crowds are assembled in the underground, therefore the subway has become one of the most important public places, and environmental quality of subway involves the personal interests of every citizen. Public art in Beijing subway has seen considerable progress over the past a few decades, but traditional art form such as paintings, sculptures, and relief still dominates the field, lacking peculiarity and interaction. As a famous historic and cultural city and with unique memories, Beijing subway should reflect regional features when designing public art facilities, which is very critical for cultural continuity of Beijing.An inquiry into current situation of public art in the17subway lines and314subway stations in Beijing was conducted before case analysis; current situation of subway art was recorded and summed up to get a comprehensive understanding of public art in Beijing subway. A survey is conducted upon passengers from different gender, age, occupation and region in NANLUOGUXIANG Station to reveal their opinions about public art work Beijing Memory in that subway station; Investigation methods such as observation, interview and questionnaire are adopted, and332investigation forms are collected. By analyzing results of the questionnaire, the text learned people’s views towards Beijing· Memory and public art in Beijing subway. In comparison with other traditional Metro art works, such as sculptures, murals and reliefs, etc., this piece of work has made a new breakthrough in the material, expression, interaction, particularly in terms of interaction with the public. Beijing· Memory enjoys much higher popularity during the same period than a piece of traditional public art work (relief) in National Library Railway Station from Line4. Beijing· Memory which is based on life scenes of old Beijing, presents customs of old Beijing using the technique of silhouette, carries important meaning, and arouses people’s emotions and memories of old Beijing. Meanwhile, Beijing· Memory has played a role in promoting Beijing culture by means of enormous crowd in the subway. Based on a great deal of investigations, the text gains sufficient data that may provide some useful references and help accelerate the transformation from functionality to artistic quality of Beijing even the whole country’s subway.