I
think Grand Central Station in Manhattan is the most beautiful building
in the world. I used to go there as a teenager, just to hang out and
stare. It's so open and accommodating, and so huge! There's a
great little article about the terminal at NY1 this morning. In case you don't feel like clicking on over to read it, here's an excerpt:
Yet the building's Beaux Arts style of architecture, which was designed
100 years ago, is all about the people who walk through it.
"Beaux
Arts design is based first and foremost on the importance of the
individual," says urban historian Justin Ferate. "Every architectural
detail in the space has some physical relationship to your body and
that's very import because it helps you figure out where you are."
The
architecture of the building is as much about psychology as it is about
style. Every single corridor is designed to create a sense of
consciousness and comfort.
"If you look around the Grand
Concourse, you’ll find that the railings are roughly your waist height.
The counters are just the right height to be leaned on," Ferate says.
"Each block of stone in the upstairs concourse is one footstep wide for
walking and one footstep long for running. And because the blocks relate
to your physical movement, you use it subliminally as you run across
the platform."
See Grand Central Station at Wikipedia.
