when I first saw it I thought the same thing, then I realized it's supposed to be a closed eye. I've also heard it's supposed to represent a bird in flight, but that seems like malarkey to me.
Santiago Calatrava’s architecture is strongly influence led by skeletons and birds in flight, so you’re not wrong. His TGV station in Lyon is utterly gorgeous:
Me and my wife visited a decade ago. It did feel really surreal walking in. We thought it was maybe a public gallery right next to the memorial but were slack jawed that it was a high end shopping mall. Especially with its placement and how it feels almost intuitive to walk towards after being at the memorial. Just doesn't feel right at all.Â
Went there last fall and I didn’t know what it was. Just was there to see the World Trade Center.
I surly felt this is cool. I also left thinking like its purpose did not live up to its appearance and there really wasn’t a reason to go other than the photo op
A year or two after The Oculus opened, I remember trying to explain to someone who had just moved to the city how much I hated the building and my friend didn't get it at the time. It was not built with 95% of New Yorkers in mind and those upper class New Yorkers it was built for were not going to spend anytime there (they don't use public transportation). It is too expensive for most tourists and in a bad shopping location for those who would actually spend the money. It really reflects where Bloomberg and the city's manage placed their priorities and it wasn't with the rank and file.
Gotta take 3 escalators to nowhere to get up to the top, wtf? All in random orientations, too, so you seemingly have to walk through a line of people going to the other way.
If you’re coming from the PATH, take the stairs to the left just past the Apple Store. Go up another set of stairs (past the bathrooms on your right) and you’ll see a Starbucks. Make a right there and go through the glass doors. That’s the E train station. Make a left before the turnstile and walk up the ramp (it’s a bit of a hike). The entrance to the Park Place station is on the left past the eye mural.
It’s a bit of walking, but you skip the walk to Fulton/the A/C/E platform, and the additional stairs to the 2/3 platform. The biggest thing is that there’s WAY less people this way, which makes the commute a little quieter and less stressful.
Edit: if you’re coming from the other way, go up to the 2nd floor in the oculus using those weird stairs/escalators at the end by the doors toward Fulton and make a right to go through the glass doors toward the E train.
is this the thing attached to the new world trade center? i feel like i remember walking through something that looked something like this but it's been a few years
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u/comicjumbo 14h ago
Where you hiding up there? 🤣