Still standing: a century of urban train station design

Abstract

This beautiful photographic collection of urban train station design covers a 100-year period from roughly 1850 to 1950. Striking original photographs chronicle 40 large passenger station buildings still in existence in cities around the world. From the great terminals of London, across the world to Auckland, New Zealand; from Toronto's Union Station to the grand and crumbling Retiro Station in Buenos Aires--vastly different architectural forms are displayed and presented chronologically. One-third of the stations included are among the best America has to offer. Still Standing: A Century of Urban Train Station Design outlines the history and development of large urban stations throughout the Western world. The basic physical forms and their evolution are reviewed in the context of the rapid growth of train travel. Christopher Brown discusses the arrival and impact of Beaux-Arts architecture in the 1890s and its profound effect on the American terminal. The end of the so-called golden era of passenger rail travel coincided with an architectural move away from the classicism of Beaux-Arts. New and different design forms appeared while passengers defected to other means of transportation. These dazzling public structures have endured, but the photographs imply a disturbing question: How long will they survive? Christopher Brown holds a B.S. in Communications from Boston University and an MFA from University of Southern California. He is a former network television executive, and a lifelong student of architecture. His photography is currently featured in Odyssey, a magazine of the Greek diaspora. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.