By the roslyn news staff
roslyn@antonmediagroup.com
This past spring, Roslyn Heights resident Andrew Califano received a Bachelor of Science degree from the legendary University of Notre Dame. Since then, Califano, who is also a graduate of Roslyn High School, has wasted no time in making his mark on the world of American architecture.
Califano recently received the Institute for Classical art and Architecture (ICCA) Stanford White Student Project award for his college thesis, “A New Penn Station,” a renovation proposal for that longtime New York landmark.
Honoring the tradition of classical architecture, Califano developed a design that was inspired by images of the once-grand Pennsylvania Station.
In his thesis, Califano proposed a master plan for the rebuilding of Pennsylvania Station as a new grand rail terminal for New York City, including a main terminal located on the original Penn Station site bound by Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 31st and 33rd Streets, two mixed-use towers on the 34th Street side with a pedestrian connections into the main terminal, a public park, market hall and reintegration of the A, C, E and 1, 2, 3 subway lines.
The ambitious proposal requires the demolition of both Madison Square Garden, plus both the One and Two Penn Plaza buildings. The Garden, under Califano’s plan, would be relocated to another site. Designed to evoked the grandeur of the McKim, Mead & White’s original Penn Station, Califano said that thesis also draws inspiration from New York’s Beaux-Arts buildings, namely Carrère & Hastings New York Public Library and Warren & Whitmore’s Grand Central Terminal.
In the proposal, the modified palazzo plans has passengers enter through loggias into rotundas located at the four corners of the site, then descend grand staircases in two grand vaulted halls located on the east and west ends of the site, and finally descend again into a vast vaulted glass and steel train shed. In all, the proposal envisions Penn Station as a palace of public transportation that serves the needs of more than 600,000 daily uses. Square footage for the projects is estimated to be 2,500,000 sq. ft.
The awards recognize achievement in individual projects in architecture, interiors, landscape, urbanism, and building craftsmanship and artisanship throughout New York, New Jersey, and Fairfield County, CT. It is named in honor of Stanford White (1853-1906), of the distinguished New York firm McKim, Mead & White, whose legacy of design excellence and creativity in architecture and the related arts continues to serve as a source of inspiration to generations of architects.
Califano, as noted, graduated from the University of Notre Dame, School of Architecture in the spring of 2015 at the top of his class having achieved the honor of summa cum laude. He was also honored as a candidate for valedictorian of the 2015 graduating class. Califano is currently working at the New York firm of Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, LLP and in the years ahead, he hopes to make a positive mark on the New York landscape.
