When we walk down a city block, we are surrounded by signs, landmarks, buildings, and infrastructure — each element provides context to our journey. Whether we notice them or not, many of them leave indelible and memorable marks on our mental maps: that uneven sidewalk, this neon sign, that old-timey storefront. But when we ride the subway, all context between point A and point B disappears.

Ian Callendar, an incoming student at Columbia University’s Master in Architecture program, took the challenge to insert context into the subway ride and hacked an elegant, Media Architecture Biennial award-winning project: Uptown Underground — the opposite of a glass-bottomed boat!