Park Street Subway Station

Two granite kiosks with copper roofs mark the entrances to Boston's principal subway station—the first underground system in the United States. The earlier remodeling of the station attempted to preserve the turn-of-the-twentieth-century appearance—with its “Victorian” lights and colored floor tiles. Fortunately, the lighting system has been modernized, lending a more contemporary air to the transit system's main hub. Black and white photomurals, maps, and built-in seating provide a minimum of amenities. Leading to the kiosks, the plaza at the southeast corner of Boston Common (BH1) is always a lively space, with subway-bound pedestrians, shoppers, street musicians, and strollers. New entrances by Leers Weinzapfel Associates are distinctly modern yet engage the earlier pavilions. The first subway route included stops at Boylston Street, Park Street, Scollay Square (now Government Center), and Haymarket Square. The Boylston Street stop remains essentially unchanged from its original configuration.

In 2003, Wall USA, a subsidiary of the German firm Wall AG, provided the design for bus shelters and aboveground stops on the Green Lines, whose industrial aesthetic of metal and cable with sleek curved glass surfaces is indebted to European transit systems.