Oculus (Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel)
THE EXPERIENCE
After September 9, 2001, the World Trade tragedy, there was a team of architects whose only goal was to recreate something new and meaningful. They mapped up a plan of what they wanted ground zero to look like and decided that a new building and a memorial in the place of the two towers would serve the thousand lost well. As of July 2017, this memorial ground is composed of the 104 story Freedom Tower, smaller buildings nearby for workers and two waterfalls filled with the names of the people whose lives were lost during the terrorist attack that ended in the falling of the "Twin Towers". I must say this place is just beautiful! One place that stands out the most to me is the most recent structure completed, The Oculus. As expected this place is a tourist attraction. There is never a time when this place is empty because the Oculus is also connected to the Flatbush train station, which is a stop that all trains must pass through. Due to this constant flow, there has been the recent implementation of stores and events to allow companies to promote and increase product sale. So it is both a mall and a beautiful attraction.
This adventure is mainly focusing on the architecture of the Oculus because ... its just astonishing! The approximately 14 billion dollar train station was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and I must say, great job. This station is composed of both businesses with an open mezzanine under the National September 11 Memorial plaza. This is just one of the many beautiful works of art that Calatrava has created. Two of my favorite buildings created by Calatrava are the Turning Torsa and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia. If you are ever in Malmö, Sweden or Valencia, Spain you must see these two buildings. Hey, you never know, maybe you'll see my girlfriend and I there one day.
This pace is also so amazing because of all the work that went behing the creation of it. One can not disregard the legitamcy of this architects creativity after reading these numbers. The structure is formed by softly-curving, white, steel ribs that rise from below the ground to form an elliptical dome over a vast concourse. The structure uses 11,500 tons of structural steel, and free from internal columns the concourse reaches a length of 350 ft and a height of 160 ft. The structure was built by Skanska for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who estimate the hub will be used daily by 250,000 commuters. This structure is a gold mine.
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