Thinking Big: Four Visions of a New Penn Station

The Municipal Art Society of NYC asked four design firms to “Draw BIG” and Reimagine the ideal Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden.

The proposals by Diller Scofidio & Renfro, SHoP Architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture were introduced on May 29th. All plans expect the new station to include high-speed rail.

H3 HARDY COLLABORATION ARCHITECTURE Moves the entire complex to the West Side waterfront at 34th Street, creates an elevated bike and pedestrian promenade and turns Pier 76 into a new 16-acre park.

DILLER SCOFIDIO & RENFRO Moves Madison Square Garden across Eighth Avenue next to the James A. Farley Post Office building; Penn Station becomes a multilevel public space with amenities like a spa and a theater. 

SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL Moves Madison Square Garden off site and expands the station to four city blocks from two. Above ground: green space four times the size of Bryant Park; housing twice the size of Tudor City; more offices than Rockefeller Center; and more cultural spaces than Lincoln Center. 

SHoP ARCHITECTS Expands the existing site with a lightweight concrete structure that is meant to evoke the old Penn Station and seeks to make the station a social meeting spot. 

When’s the last time you heard someone say… Let’s meet for a drink at Penn Station? People say that about Grand Central all the time.