Architectural History
The Future Still Needs the Gimbels Skybridge
For nearly a century, the Gimbels skybridge has served as a kind of gatehouse announcing Pennsylvania Station on the next block west. Few would guess that its interior was once continuous with the station’s. The bridge will disappear if plans for the Empire Station Complex proceed. This would be a terrible loss. It is by far the most prominent aerial bridge from an era when the rest of the world looked to New York as the skyscraping, multi-level City of the Future—the crowning example of a phenomenon that influenced modern architecture and still captivates and inspires.
Detroit’s Grand Central: Michigan Central Station
In its much-photographed desolation, Detroit’s Michigan Central Station could be called America’s Ruin, while New York’s restored Grand Central Terminal more than ever lives up to its title as America’s Piazza San Marco. Grand Central was one of New York’s first buildings to be targeted for landmark designation, sparing it from demolition to become one … Detroit’s Grand Central: Michigan Central Station