Rene Cuevas and Terry Suhre | 2003

Ballas MetroBus Center
Serigraph printing in resin blocks
34, 7 5/8″ w. x 7 5/8″ h. blocks

Perched on a hill and parallel to the highway, the Ballas MetroBus Center resembles an old-fashioned train station with wood slat ceilings and open-air platforms extending from either end of the building.  Terry Suhre worked with engineers and architects on the building’s overall design as well as working with Rene Cuevas to design and fabricate
St. Louis Circulation.

Inside the station, a wall of colored bricks (designed to suggest children’s board games) is integrated with ideas and imagery suggested by mass transit system maps and the history of transportation.  St. Louis Circulation consists of 34 blocks of clear plastic resin containing images relating to transportation – bikes, airplanes, buses, trains, submarines, cars, watch faces, and helicopters.

The imagery inside each block is created using multiple layers of serigraphy (also known as screen printing), creating a three-dimensional effect.  Suhre states, “Building on the concept of a map, we developed a design that refers to transportation-related images.  These comprise the heart of the blocks, which also contain color screen and reflective surfaces.”

Commissioned by Arts in Transit for Metro Transit St. Louis.