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Grand Central Terminal

by Kenneth Powell

Cover of Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal stands at the true heart of Manhattan. Built at the beginning of this century it represents the ideals and aspirations of a great American city emerging as a world metropolis in the decade before World War I. Splendid and conspicuous, Grand Central is more than a building; it is not just a civic monument but the central component of an exercise in urban planning which set a new standard for New York and every other great city. Romantic, extravagant and gargantuan as Grand Central seems to late twentieth-century sensibilities, it still embodies a practical and progressive vision of urban life which has new relevance in the aftermath of the Modern Movement.

ArchitectureBuildings, structuresGrand Central Terminal (New York, N.Y.)Interior architectureRailroad stationsCriticism and interpretationWarren & Wetmore