Happy 100th Birthday Grand Central Terminal!
Grand Central Station is known for its historic beauty, and grandeur. What is less known is that the famous train station was ahead of its time in terms innovative design.
A new book by New York Times reporter Sam Roberts called Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America, talks about some of the innovations that went into building the iconic terminal.
Another Grand Central innovation was the ramp. “The place has virtually no staircases,” Roberts explains. “People realized that particularly long-distance travelers were coming in with suitcases, lots of luggage, and the ramps were built to accommodate them. Lots of people didn’t know what a ramp was, interestingly enough, so there was one explanation that pointed out that the word comes from ‘ramparts.’ “
For a the full story and images from Grand Central’s past and present, click here.
[Image: merrimakerscatering.com]
(via fastcompany)
