Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC
May 8, 2009 • Public
Photo: The red, white, and blue bunting on the southwestern facade of Union Station mark the Fourth of July weekend. I took this photo while returning from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall, Sunday, 5 July 2009. I took the interior photos in this album, April 2009.
Photo: The architect of Union Station was Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA (1846 – 1912). He was also an urban planner.
Photo: Burnham served as Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Columbian_Exposition
Photo: Burnham also designed the Flatiron (Fuller) Building, 1902. Some consider it to be New York City's first skyscraper.
Photo: The US Capitol is only six blocks away.
Photo: The end pavilions were vaulted with the lightweight fireproof Guastavino tiles favored by Burnham and other American Beaux-Arts architects.
Photo: Burhham was inspired by a number of ancient models. The grand central interior shown here includes classical elements of the Arch of Constantine and the great vaulted spaces of the Baths of Diocletian.
Photo: Burnham worked on a massive scale. Union Station's facade stretches more than 600 feet, and the waiting room ceiling is 96 feet above the floor.
Photo: Burnham linked the monumental end pavilions with long arcades enclosing loggias in a long series of bays.
Photo: Union Station is well know for its prominent siting at the intersection of two of Pierre L'Enfant's avenues, with an orientation that faced the United States Capitol, just five blocks away.
Photo: Louis St. Gaudens (1854-1913) created the thirty-six centurions for the station's main hall.
Photo: Burnham's classical elements ennoble one of the busiest train terminals in the United States.
Photo: One end of the grand central interior is devoted to Center Café that offers a 360 degree view of Union Station’s historic Grand Hall’s marble and gilded opulence. A wonderfully diverse menu makes possible quick bites for the hurried traveler and candlelight dinners for those longing to linger. Plebes can dine at the food court in the basement.
Photo: The ticketing booths beyond the main hall.