Station to Station [Paperback]

Steven Parissien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 2001

This text is a celebration of the life and architecture of the railway station and its evolution. It provides an informative account of the social and political context of stations over the last 150 years, and examines the background of some of the world's major stations. Railway stations have always held a special place in the public's affection. The lure of the great railway terminus has been especially strong, with the grandeur of the architecture fused with the prospects for adventure, escape or challenge promised by far-flung destinations. The many stations featured in this book cover a wide spectrum of architectural styles and developments and important historic events, from the early provincial and colonial railways, the Victorian Gothic of London's St Pancras and the Beaux-Arts splendour of Grand Central Station in New York, to the modern structural feats of Nicholas Grimshaw's Waterloo International Terminal and Santiago Calatrava's Lyon Satolas. Other stations from all over the world include the Union Stations in St Louis, Washington, DC, Chicago and Toronto; Pennsylvania Station, New York; Helsinki, Finland; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Howrah Station, Calcutta and more.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This thoroughly readable, irresistible volume on railroad-station architecture is so inclusive that it even has a still from Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. Filled with such memorabilia, Station to Station is like a long, wonderful journey in which the stations themselves--our destinations--are simply the high points. There are early timetables, plans, and elevations for many of the most famous stations; antique baggage-claim checks; and sepia prints of ribbon-cutting ceremonies. The volume also includes such mementos as a shot of the Howrah Station in Calcutta, India, with the note that the architect "was well-known for English suburban housing," and painful-to-see photographs of New York's Pennsylvania Station--with "the largest and most monumental single room in the world today," as the grand, light-strewn space was advertised--before its remodeling. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Since the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s, railway stations have served as social gathering places and gateways to adventure and excitement, not to mention as the backdrop to numerous international political and historical events. Many of these grand "cathedrals" of transportation have also been commemorated and immortalized in great works of art, cinema, and literature. In this work, Parissien (Pensylvania Station, Phaidon, 1996) has successfully combined a celebration of the architectural splendor with analysis of the evolution and everyday use of these public buildings in a single, beautifully illustrated volume. Following an introductory chapter emphasizing the historical significance of railway stations, each of the remaining six chapters focuses on various architectural styles, including 19th-century exotic, beaux-arts, expressionism, and modern. The text and illustrations blend in harmony and provide the reader with many hours of viewing and reading pleasure. Recommended for most public libraries and academic libraries with architectural collections.?Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (March 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714841021
• ISBN-13: 978-0714841021
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,669,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, well illustrated book., October 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Station to Station (Hardcover)

I found Station to Station to be an excellent broad work on the topic. I felt that while it didn't spend too much time on any particular station, it did give good detail on most all major stations of architectural value, including the somewhat obscure. All in all, a book worth reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A triumphal survey of, and tribute to, the railway station, May 21, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Station to Station (Paperback)

Steven Parissien's Station To Station is a triumphal survey of, and tribute to, the railway station. This wonderfully illustrated history of the life and architecture of the railway station examines these structures and the events (both fictional and real) that have occurred within them, as well as how they have formed an integral part of the growth, development, and "personalities" of the cities they have served over the past 150 years. From such early provincial and colonial railways such as the Victorian Gothic of London's St. Pancras and the Beaux-Arts splendor of grand Central Station in New York, to the modern structural marvels of the Waterloo International Terminal and the Lyon Satolas Station, this impressive compendium draws upon archive pictures, railway ephemera, and new photographs to augment an informative text that will prove very welcome reading for railroad buffs and architectural students.