The demolition of Penn Station, a grand 1910 structure by architects McKim, Mead & White, was the reason for the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in the 1960s, changing the mentality of the townspeople who had previously referred to regular demolitions in many ways. indifferently, as an inevitable sign of renewal. The famous Madison Square Garden arena was built in the place of the Bezar-style station, and the entire railway program was underground, including the original 9 platforms and 17 tracks.
This new Penn Station is rarely mentioned in architectural texts without the epithets "cramped" and "dark", especially when compared to the luxurious spaces of the old one, inspired by the baths of Caracalla. A separate problem was that the underground station was designed for 200,000 people a day, since in the 1960s the popularity of railway transport fell for many reasons, and the decrease in capacity was considered reasonable, but passenger traffic has grown steadily since then, exceeding in 2010 e years 600,000 per day. This created particular difficulties and even an unsafe rush hour crush.
Senator Dominik Moynihan proposed a solution to the problem. Next to the station in 1913, according to the project of the same McKim, Mead & White, a spacious post office was built, which by the end of the 20th century was empty by 95% - trains were no longer used to deliver parcels and letters, replacing them with trucks that did not need a building in city center. The post office is located above the underground platforms of Penn Station, so it was logical to turn it into a "reincarnation" of the 1910 station. The project was entrusted to SOM in the late 1990s, but its implementation was not easy, so the first, small queue opened in 2017, and the main part, the Moynihan Hall, named after the already deceased ideological mastermind of this plan, earned passengers only on January 1 of this year. …
The former sorting "shop" of the post office serves as the station space. The architects, with the help of the German engineers schlaich bergermann partner, covered it with glass vaults on cables and rigid steel structures. They are based on three historic farms that were previously hidden in the roof of the post office, but now open to the eye. At the edges, glass panels (500 in total) are thickened to withstand the load, and in the center of each vault, the glass is thinner, its area is larger - in order to transmit maximum light, which now penetrates underground, to the trains. This is exactly what the 1910 station was, with a translucent roof and sunbeams on underground platforms, so the authors of the project talk about the "return" of natural light.
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zooming 1/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 2/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM
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zooming 3/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM
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zooming 4/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM
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zooming 5/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 6/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 7/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 8/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 9/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 10/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 11/11 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
The post office has a spectacular portico, that is, the station again has a main entrance - along with several others. The interiors have made extensive use of turn-of-the-century New York limestone - Tennessee marble - to ensure continuity. In addition to the hall itself under glass vaults, reminiscent of the traditional clock by Pennoyer Architects, the project includes waiting areas, ticket offices and information kiosks, a food court, representative offices of railway companies (they were designed by other bureaus): all this makes life much easier for passengers. although 50% larger area, light and an intuitive layout are still the most important thing.
They did not forget about art: Scandinavian artists Elmgreen and Dragset, in particular, worked for the Moynihan Hall, creating a ceiling installation “The Beehive” that is surprisingly neutral for them.
Funding for the project (it cost about $ 1.5 billion) was partially provided by offices for Facebook and the Amtrak railway company, shops and restaurants. When the first Penn Station appeared, this part of Manhattan was largely industrial, but nowadays, with the implementation of large-scale projects
Hudson Yards and Manhattan West, the renovated train station, considered the largest transport hub in the Northern Hemisphere, is also acquiring a “district” significance of a public center, the architects say.
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zooming 1/6 Elmgreen and Dragset. The Beehive (2020). Stainless steel, aluminum, polycarbonate, LED lamps, varnish. Commissioned by Empire State Development in conjunction with the Public Art Fund for Moynihan Hall. Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development & Public Art Fund, NY
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zooming 2/6 Elmgreen and Dragset. The Beehive (2020). Stainless steel, aluminum, polycarbonate, LED lamps, varnish. Commissioned by Empire State Development in conjunction with the Public Art Fund for Moynihan Hall. Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development & Public Art Fund, NY
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zooming 3/6 Elmgreen and Dragset. The Beehive (2020). Stainless steel, aluminum, polycarbonate, LED lamps, varnish. Commissioned by Empire State Development in conjunction with the Public Art Fund for Moynihan Hall. Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development & Public Art Fund, NY
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zooming 4/6 Elmgreen and Dragset. The Beehive (2020). Stainless steel, aluminum, polycarbonate, LED lamps, varnish. Commissioned by Empire State Development in conjunction with the Public Art Fund for Moynihan Hall. Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development & Public Art Fund, NY
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zooming 5/6 Elmgreen and Dragset. The Beehive (2020). Stainless steel, aluminum, polycarbonate, LED lamps, varnish. Commissioned by Empire State Development in conjunction with the Public Art Fund for Moynihan Hall. Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development & Public Art Fund, NY
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zooming 6/6 Elmgreen and Dragset. The Beehive (2020). Stainless steel, aluminum, polycarbonate, LED lamps, varnish. Commissioned by Empire State Development in conjunction with the Public Art Fund for Moynihan Hall. Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development & Public Art Fund, NY
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zooming 1/3 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 2/3 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 3/3 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 1/3 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 2/3 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 3/3 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 1/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 2/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development
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zooming 3/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 4/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 5/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development
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zooming 1/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 2/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development
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zooming 3/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 4/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 5/5 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy of Empire State Development
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zooming 1/7 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 2/7 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 3/7 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 4/7 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 5/7 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 6/7 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
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zooming 7/7 Moynihan Hall at Penn Station Photo: Nicholas Knight Courtesy Empire State Development
