The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station - Softcover

Lorraine B. Diehl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1568580606 ISBN 13: 9781568580609

Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1996

Synopsis

This work traces the history of the creation, operation, and demolition of New York's Pennsylvania Station.

About this title

Review:

This book offers a moving and tragic account of the history, creation, and the ultimate demise of the original Pennsylvania Station in New York City. An elegant symbol of turn-of-the-century classicism, the station was designed by the preeminent architects of the period, McKim, Mead & White, and completed in 1910. Accompanied by 80 vintage photographs, Lorraine Diehl lovingly documents the labor involved in the creation of this great building and traces the mid-20th-century development interests and capitalist forces that destroyed it in 1963. While there was no public outcry to save the building, once New Yorkers realized the extent of their loss, it helped pave the way for a nationwide preservation movement. This book convincingly reasserts the profound importance of our public urban architecture--culturally, socially, and aesthetically--to our collective memory and history.

From Library Journal:

Although demolished more than 20 years ago, New York's monumental Pennsylvania Station continues to hold a strong fascination for social and architectural historians alike. The demolition of the station became the turning point for the historic preservation movement in this country. The gateway to New York City for over 50 years was the masterpiece of McKim Mead and White, America's preeminent firm in the first decades of the 20th century. Diehl has crafted an engrossing, superbly researched account that recaptures the drama and grandeur of the station from its planning and construction, through its golden years in the 1920s, to its decline and senseless destruction in 1964. Handsomely illustrated with numerous photographs and drawings, this book is highly recommended for most libraries. H. Ward Jandl, National Park Svce., Washington,
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1568580606
• ISBN 13: 9781568580609
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 168