Topic: Architecture as Art

Architecture as functional art: new life for old terminals

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 28, 2007 |

I came alive again on the road in America, especially as I entered New England. It was an easy resuscitation: just wave restored buildings, green space and intelligent, environmentally conscious urban planning before my eyes and I’m yours.

As the bus pulled into the New Haven, Connecticut, station, I was able to linger a bit, using this rest stop as a place to pause and remember how much I enjoy this terminal. On the shoreline of Long Island Sound, the New Haven station serves both bus and rail from a large turn-of-the-century terminal now fully restored, its old wood sanded, polished and primed to perfection, marble floors gleaming in the filtered morning light and marble-tiled walls reaching high overhead. Not a splatter of graffiti anywhere. No litter. Neat rows of visitor information tucked in a hallway stood next to a small old-fashioned office where train schedules and tickets were dispensed. Walking into the station is not unlike walking into a museum where curators have restored a piece of architectural history with the most minute attention to detail. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Issues | 2 Comments