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MBTA GLX Lechmere Station

The multi-year Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line Extension (GLX) project consist of multiple new stations that took several years to bring to fruition. Each of the seven new stations which included reconstruction of the Lechmere Station incorporate a unique work of art crafted by different artist. The public art was a well-planned part of the entire project, with each artist carefully selected by the GLX Integral Art Program. The artist for Lechmere Station was Randal Thurston who designed the rhythms of vines and flocking birds on a very large scale. GGI recreated the design for three elevator towers and across 122 individual panes and approximately 2,200 SF of laminated glass using the company’s Alice® direct-to-glass printing technology.

Building Type

Transit

FEATURED PRODUCT

Alice® Direct to Glass Printing

Developer

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
GLX Integral Art Program

architect

ARUP

Artist

Randal Thurston

Glazing Contractor

Ipswich Bay Glass

Location

Cambridge, MA

Photography

Greg West Photography

About the Artist

The Story behind the Art

The 9/16" thick laminated glass configuration: 1/4" Low Iron Tempered - .060 PVB - 1/4" Low Iron Tempered with Alice® direct-to-glass printed design on the #3 surface. The ceramic frit ink used to create the Alice® design is fused into the surface of the glass for a durable, colorfast solution.

The artwork for Lechmere Station was created by Randal Thurston and it titled, "Thicket". The artist succeeded in bringing nature into the environment while paying homage to the salt marsh that once existed in this area. As the image spans numerous individual panes of glass within the curtainwall, it is critical that each portion of the design aligned properly. Each glass panel is identified to ensure proper installation and to facilitate ordering replacements if ever needed.

Randal Thurston is an artist and professor of art. For more than 30 years, he has been creating large scale installations composed of hundreds of individually hand cut silhouettes.

The Alice® glass panels are translucent allowing visibility from the inside of the elevators to the outside and to look different depending on the time of day.

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