World Trade Center Transportation Hub in Lower Manhattan, New York by Santiago Calatrava

Article source: Santiago Calatrava 

In August 2003, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey selected Santiago Calatrava to design one of the most emblematic projects in Lower Manhattan’s restoration: the reconstruction of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. Based on Daniel Libeskind’s Masterplan, the new facility was to be located immediately east of the original World Trade Center Twin Towers. In January 2004, Santiago Calatrava unveiled his design.

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

• Architects: Santiago Calatrava
• Project: World Trade Center Transportation Hub 
• Location: Lower Manhattan / Ground Zero, New York, USA
• Client: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Architect and Engineer of Record: The Downtown Design Partnership
• Start of Construction: April 2010 (Oculus foundation)
• Estimated Completion: 2016

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

The project replaces the original Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) rail system that was destroyed on September 11, 2001. In addition to serving the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) commuter trains, the facility also connects to the #1, A, C and R lines of the MTA subway system, and is to provide seamless, indoor pedestrian access to Brookfield Place (formally known as “The World Financial Center”), four (4) new commercial towers, as well as the new Fulton Street Transit Center via the Dey Street Connector. The Hub is to create an inspiring, light-filled public gathering place.

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

Calatrava conceived of the Hub as a free standing structure at grade (which would come to be called the “Oculus”) and situated it along the southern edge of Libeskind’s “Wedge of Light” plaza., This treatment of the site created a pause amid the dense commercial towers that links the procession of green spaces extending from City Hall Park, through the churchyard of St. Paul’s and the WTC Transportation Hub plaza to the gardens of the WTC Memorial and Battery Park City along the Hudson River.

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

The PATH Hall

The Project is fundamentally conceived of as two large complimentary spaces, the PATH Hall and the Transit Hall, which are divided by the MTA #1 Line structure that bisects the site below Greenwich Street. The PATH Hall lies west of the #1 Line and provides ticketing, fare control and other services for access to PATH train platforms. It is located eight (8) feet lower than the Transit Hall and is defined by a series of parallel structural steel ribs whose clear spans facilitate comfort, orientation and enhanced security. The four PATH train platforms provide service to Hoboken and Newark, New Jersey. Openings in the fare mezzanine floor provide spatial connections between the platforms and the ceiling of the PATH Hall so that arriving commuters enter into a great space directly upon detraining. The West Street Concourse, a double height commercial corridor north of the PATH Hall, connects the PATH Hall to Brookfield Place to the west.

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

The Transit Hall: A new piazza in New York

The Transit Hall lies east of the MTA #1 subway line is linked to the PATH Hall below the #1 line. This connection provides a direct visual link from the Dey Street Connector in the east to the bridge over the West Street Concourse in the west. The Transit Hall lies east of the #1 Line and forms a sunken piazza in the long European tradition of central urban spaces. Concourses and connectors converge on the Transit Hall and connect new commercial towers, the Fulton Transit Center together and MTA subway lines. Beyond being places of commerce, these plazas are places for visiting and gathering through which other parts of the city are articulated.

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

Image Courtesy © Santiago Calatrava

Tags: New York, USA

Category: Transportation Center

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 13th, 2016 at 5:34 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.