Artist Toby Paterson was invited by the DLR to create a new artwork for the Stratford International extension. Paterson worked closely with the team responsible for designing and building the extension, and identified the large glass screens – a central feature of the stations’ architecture - as an exciting opportunity to create an artwork that visually connects the stations along this line.
Taking his inspiration from the topography of this rapidly changing part of East London, Paterson used maps, plans and photographs of the area to evolve a graphic vocabulary of pattern, colour and form, responding to the unique qualities of each location on the route. His series of tessellated patterns transforms a functional element of a station’s architecture into a visual event, creating a unique identity for the line.
‘My approach was to treat the glass surfaces in a way that incorporates the movement of passengers, trains and, in many cases, the public space and surrounding townscape outside the station. Obviously this will be a primary transport route for the London Olympics but as the work quietly offers a constant reference to changed places in the locality of the line, the legacy will be with the people who use these stations everyday’. Toby Paterson
A limited edition Oyster wallet using Toby Paterson’s motif was given out to members of the public to celebrate the opening of the Stratford International Extension.
This project is part of DLR Art, the Public Art Programme for the Docklands Light Railway, curated and managed by Modus Operandi.
