New York's Pennsylvania Stations [Hardcover]

Hilary Ballon (Author), Norman McGrath (Photographer), Marilyn Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Norton Professional Books for Architects & Designers | Publication Date: May 2002

A journey through the extraordinary history of New York's Pennsylvania Station.

This is a guided tour through the past, present, and future of great civic architecture in New York City. It tells the story of Pennsylvania Station: the original building, its tragic demolition in the 1960s, and the new station designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and now under construction. In stunning photographs by Norman McGrath the hidden structure of Penn Station is revealed along with the burial of the station beneath Madison Square Garden. Richly illustrated essays by Hilary Ballon and Marilyn Taylor, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill celebrated new chair, on the old and new stations illuminate their connections and indicate how public architecture and transportation planning can enhance the way millions of people experience New York City. 100 color, 75 b&w illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Review

[R]emarkable, informative….a valuable preservation of history and perspective that most commuters, rushing from one level or train to another, never think about. (Examiner.com )

[A] treat for Penn Station aficionados and those interested in the preservation of historic landmarks, architecture, urban planning and transportation. (Design Issues )

About the Author

Hilary Ballon is an architectural historian and professor at Columbia University. She is the curator of “Robert Moses and the Modern City,” the 2007 exhibition concurrently at the Queens Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery of Columbia University. She is the editor of the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Her previous books include New York’s Pennsylvania Stations; The Paris of Henri IV: Architecture and Urbanism, which won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Award for the Most Distinguished Scholarship in the History of Architecture; and Louis Le Vau: Mazarin’s Collège, Colbert’s Revenge, which received a medal from the Académie Française.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393730786
• ISBN-13: 978-0393730784
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,099,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Mass Transit

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely look at the past, present and future of New York City's Penn Station, June 6, 2010

By 

DaveP1967 (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: New York's Pennsylvania Stations (Hardcover)

This book is an entertaining look at what Pennsylvania Station was, is, and might be in the future, through knowledgeable text and excellent pictures and drawings. A good read for those who want a detailed look at one of New York City's most famous architectural treasures, how it was lost, and how it might be reborn once again. The section on its rebirth in the Farley Post Office building was written before work was delayed on the project, but with some luck (and a lot of public and private pressure) it may come to fruition, albeit in a somewhat different form.