Presented by ReThink Penn Station NYC
A public forum at The Grand Hall, Cooper Union
Three eminent architects present their plans for a new above-ground Penn Station. Followed by Q&A from a panel of architectural authorities as well as from the general public.
Register for the in-person event | Register for the Zoom livestream
WHO:
Architect, Vishaan Chakrabarti, PAU
Architect, Alexandros Washburn, Grand Penn Community Alliance
Architect, Richard Cameron, Atelier and Co, ReThinkNYC
Author, Lorraine B. Diehl,“The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station”
Moderator of the Architectural Panel, Cathleen McGuigan, Former Editor-in-Chief, Architectural Record
Panelist, Gina Pollara, graduate of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union, former executive director of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
Panelist, Justin Davidson, New York Magazine, Pulitzer Prize Winner
Panelist, Peter Schubert, FAIA, Partner, Ennead Architects
Moderator of the Evening, Sam Turvey, Chairperson, ReThinkPennStationNYC.
The original Pennsylvania Station and associated Hudson and East River tunnels were critically important to New York becoming “the greatest city on earth.”
Fixing the site is critically important to it remaining so. As every New Yorker knows, the current station — trapped in the basement of a hockey rink — is an egregious mess and the current track configuration no longer serves the kind of city we’ve become — less a city than a region.
The architects will discuss their plans and present visual renderings, with the focus on giving New Yorkers and the traveling public a great, above-ground station.
Vishaan Chakrabarti: With over twenty-five years of proven experience authoring and implementing visionary urban architecture, Vishaan Chakrabarti is the Founder and Creative Director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | PAU, where he leads the firm’s growing global portfolio of cultural, institutional, and public projects including the expansion of Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Refinery, Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Yards, Ford Motor Company’s Michigan Central Station project in Detroit’s Corktown, Princeton’s Hobson College, and a unique urban village in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as well as serving as the Collaborating Architect on the recently announced JP Morgan Chase World Headquarters.
Alexandros Washburn: As principal of DRAW (Design Research Alexandros Washburn) was New York City’s former Chief Urban Designer and the author of The Nature of Urban Design. From Hudson Yards to the High Line, his accomplishments as Chief Urban Designer helped usher in a new era of urban design in New York City. His major projects include The Hudson Yards, The High Line, Times Square Pedestrianization, Hunters Point South Design Guidelines, Queens Waterfront, Coney Island Rezoning, and Hudson Square Rezoning.
Richard Wilson Cameron: Lead Architectural Designer and Advisor to ReThinkPennStationNYC.org, and is a member of its Board of Directors. He is the founder and principal designer at the New York firm RWC Atelier and Co. He has worked on some of the largest residential projects in the country and is renowned for his skill as a draftsman and architectural artist. Richard has been passionately focused on the problem of Pennsylvania Station since 1993 and was the originator of the idea that the original Penn Station designed by Charles McKim and opened in 1910 and demolished from 1963-1967 be rebuilt. He has appeared on the Brian Lehrer television program and Metro Focus with Raphael Pi Roman and given many public talks in recent years to discuss the proposal, the European precedents for similar reconstruction, and the possibilities for an enhanced design of a modernized station based on the original.
Lorraine B. Diehl: Born and raised in New York City, Lorraine B. Diehl is the author of The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station; Subways: The Tracks That Built New York City; and The Automat: The History, Recipes, and Allure of Horn & Hardart's Masterpiece. She has contributed to New York magazine, the New York Times, Travel & Leisure, American Heritage, and the New York Daily News, where her weekly feature, "Secret City," appeared. She lives in New York with her husband, Bill, an entertainment correspondent for ABC News Radio.