W T C Transportation Hub Oculus Exterior # 14 is a photograph by Allen Beatty which was uploaded on August 29th, 2016.
W T C Transportation Hub Oculus Exterior # 14
The exterior spokes or wings of the Oculus of the WTC Transportation Hub.
With its long steel wings poised sinuously above the National September... more
by Allen Beatty
Title
W T C Transportation Hub Oculus Exterior # 14
Artist
Allen Beatty
Medium
Photograph - Photographs
Description
The exterior spokes or wings of the Oculus of the WTC Transportation Hub.
With its long steel wings poised sinuously above the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub has finally assumed its full astonishing form, more than a decade after it was conceived.
Its colossal avian presence may yet guarantee the hub a place in the pantheon of civic design in New York. But it cannot escape another, more ignominious distinction as one of the most expensive and most delayed train stations ever built.
The price tag is approaching $4 billion, almost twice the estimate when plans were unveiled in 2004. Administrative costs alone - construction management, supervision, inspection, monitoring and documentation, among other items exceed $655 million.
As an artist living in the NY/NJ Metro area I love the astonishing design. As a taxpayer, I detest it.
The fences around the Oculus were just taken down so this was the first opportunity I had to get a full view of the exterior without the fences intruding. In this image you can see the astonishing form of the wings.
It's a building the likes of which New York City has never seen. Standing in stark contrast to Manhattan's tall and boxy skyscrapers, this pure white steel structure looks like it's in motion: indeed, with its outstretched wings it's meant to evoke a bird in flight.
Uploaded
August 29th, 2016
