Metro VA Office Building, 2401 Mill Road, Alexandria VA

The artist team FreelandBuck (David Freeland and Brennan Buck) was selected to create a site-specific artwork Tunnel Vision - a deep canopy, suspended from the lobby ceiling, derived from imagery of Metro's iconic underground stations. Evoking both the identity and experience of riding the metro system and the technical and organizational accomplishment of Metro and its employees, the canopy is both an iconic object and an immersive environment.

Positioned in the southwest corner of the lobby, the installation is visible from all sides: the street and entry vestibule to the south, plaza to the west, lobby interior to the east and finally from the floor and seating below. From each of these viewpoints, the artwork alludes to the Metro stations in dramatically different ways: from the side as a convex object that loosely evokes the coffered stations and Metro's gridded logo, and from below as a concave volume making the station clearly visible and emphasizing its dramatic one-point perspective.

FreelandBuck is both an artistic collaboration and an architectural practice. FreelandBuck is a Los Angeles and New York City-based architectural office founded and led by Brennan Buck and David Freeland. Established in 2010, the office makes buildings, spaces, and objects that engage the public through layers of meaning, illusion, and visual effect.

This project was funded by WMATA as part of a capital project for the new Metro VA Office Building.

Media coverage:
"An Optical Illusion Meets Public Art in an Installation by FreelandBuck",  Design Milk, June 5, 2024
"WMATA's Trippy Installation Feels Like You're Inside a Metro Tunnel", Washingtonian, February 16, 2024