
I was not “supposed” to take this photograph. This is down in the Washington, DC, Metro (“The Great Society Subway”). The ceillings there are quite artistic looking. The “vaults” of the Metro were designed by Chicago architect Harry Weese. The design you see are the “coffers” used to simplify concrete construction.
“After touring subway systems throughout Europe and Japan, Weese proposed spacious, column-free stations beneath a vault. Civil engineers pointed out that for cut-and-cover stations, a box-shaped station would provide more space for less cost, and Weese agreed, proposing boxy stations for downtown Washington. But the Commission of Fine Arts, which had to approve the design, insisted on vaults, and Weese complied. When he presented a scale model of a coffered-vault station, everyone was delighted.”
— From
Building the Washington Metro –
Architecture: Vaults or Boxes?
But around and within the Metro there are many signs prohibiting the taking of photographs. Yet as I stood there in a vault “they” were taking taking photographs of me.