Park-like York University Station in the heart of campus

Art will blend with architecture in the six new subway stations now taking shape along the TTCsSpadina Extension subway line, set to open in the fall of 2016.

In this series, CBC looks at each of the six stations in more detail.

York University Station

Architects: Foster and Partners, London with Adamson Associates, Toronto

Artist: Jason Bruges Studio, London

Natural light and views penetrate the interior volumes of this free form station set down in the park-like space of the Common,right in the heart of the York University campus.

Piston Effect,the station art, is also all about light, the artificial kind. Jason Bruges Studios art attaches large LCDlights much like those once used in old digital clock radios to the back of a series of glass panels to create huge electronic screens.

The screens, which are required by fire and other safety regulations to contain smoke in the event of a fire, stretch almost the full length of the station at a height that reaches concourse level.

The motion of each incoming train is detected by the LCDs. They then project an image suggesting air movement onto the screens in tones ranging from white to black.

Read about the rest of the Spadina Extension subway line:

• Downsview Park Station
• Finch West Station
• York University Station
• Pioneer Village Station
• 407 Station
• Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station

Michelle Adelman is a fellow in global journalism at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.