Updated Penn Station Design

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

According to the New York Times and the New York Observer, the Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment Corporation (more info) unveiled the fourth (yes, fourth) design for the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station (Penn Station), this time by Skidmore Owings and Merrill. It is deja-vu all over, again. A good resource to follow the history is this Wired New York’s thread.
Delving into the environmental impact study dredges up plans for a 700′ tower and a new home for Madison Square Garden, but let’s focus on the Station first, and then what the EIS says.

For those following at home, the second design was showcased by David Childs with SOM back in 1999, and more recently (due in no doubt by behind-the-scenes machinations) in July 2005 a new developer and architect – HOK New York and Jamie Carpenter Design Associates unveiled a new design.
Which brings us back up to speed to today, where David Childs and SOM are – in no doubt due to the smashing success of 7 World Trade – back in the city’s and (more importantly) developer’s good graces; thus now SOM is re-redesigning Penn Station, this time shedding the project of any sort of technical whopp-de-doos, and sticking with two barrel vaults, which while not exactly sexy from the “God-view” hold promise as monumental space for daily straphangers.

So, I wanted to see what all of the designs looked like together. In chronological order, here are the three designs I could find:

Poking around the Moynihan Station Draft Environmental Impact Statement (27 April 2006), I found some interesting tidbits which I don’t think has been reported yet.

Continue reading “Updated Penn Station Design”