Electrical substations perform a number of tasks including transforming voltage from high to low or vice versa, or generate, transmit or distribute electrical voltage as needed. There are dozens such electrical substations around NYC, and most are rather functional and boring in appearance — except the ones built in the 1930s for the IND, such as this one at West 133rd Street off St. Nicholas Avenue, in Harlem the home of the 8th Avenue lines, A and C.
Although Machine Age Moderne is reflected in IND stations’ use of block lettering and bold colors, it’s on the IND’s rare elevated sections (mostly in Brooklyn) and its electrical substations that real design elements can shine such as stylized concrete ornamentation, patterned brickwork and intricate metalwork, the creations of skilled designers and artisans who no doubt were happy to be working during the Great Depression years.
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5/31/17