Oculus Abstract

by Sarah Loft

Title

Oculus Abstract

Artist

Sarah Loft

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

This is an abstract portion of the new PATH train station replacing the one that was destroyed on 9-11. This one has been named the "Oculus".

Per Wikipedia: Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, designer of the station, said the Oculus resembles a bird being released from a child's hand. The roof was originally designed to mechanically open to increase light and ventilation to the enclosed space. Herbert Muschamp, architecture critic of The New York Times, compared the design to the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain in Central Park, and wrote in 2004:

"Santiago Calatrava's design for the World Trade Center PATH station should satisfy those who believe that buildings planned for ground zero must aspire to a spiritual dimension. Over the years, many people have discerned a metaphysical element in Mr. Calatrava's work. I hope New Yorkers will detect its presence, too. With deep appreciation, I congratulate the Port Authority for commissioning Mr. Calatrava, the great Spanish architect and engineer, to design a building with the power to shape the future of New York. It is a pleasure to report, for once, that public officials are not overstating the case when they describe a design as breathtaking."

However, Calatrava's original soaring spike design was scaled back because of security issues. The New York Times observed in 2005:

"In the name of security, Santiago Calatrava's bird has grown a beak. Its ribs have doubled in number and its wings have lost their interstices of glass.... [T]he main transit hall, between Church and Greenwich Streets, will almost certainly lose some of its delicate quality, while gaining structural expressiveness. It may now evoke a slender stegosaurus more than it does a bird."

The design was further modified in 2008 to eliminate the opening and closing roof mechanism because of budget and space constraints.

Note: The watermark will not appear on the print you purchase.

Featured in the Total Abstract Photography group, May 2016.

Featured in the Abstract Moods group, March 2021.

Uploaded

May 17th, 2016

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