WTC Transit Hub / Santiago Calatrava

Check out the latest video of Santiago Calatrava’s transit hub at the World Trade Center site, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal and funded by Brookfield Properties. Back in 2004, Calatrava first unveiled his vision for the transportation hub – a “mega-station” which will include PATH services and 12 subway lines – and it seems that we’ll still have to wait until 2014 for the project to be fully completed.   Although certain aspects of the design have been modified since 2004, the overall vision embodies Calatrava’s original conceptual ideas.  At $3.2 billion dollars, the station is an expensive, but vital, component of the new WTC complex.    Millions of commuters, tourists, and residents pass through the station every day, filtering in and out of one of the most powerful financial districts in the world.   The video’s alluring imagery of the main concourse piques our interest as Calatrava has opened the roof to allow natural light to flood the interior.  This strategy creates a more transparent and open space, which is unusual for a New York subway station, that can also be enjoyed from above as people in the towers look down upon the hub.  We are anxious to wait on the sleek platforms and walk down the commercial connection between the hub and the Winter Garden, but we’ll just have to patiently wait to see the final result!