Today marked the (very) long awaited public opening of “Grand Central Madison” to the world. Construction to bring the Long Island Railroad to the east side of Manhattan first started in the late ’60s, but was eventually cancelled due to lack of funds. It wasn’t until the ’90s that the plan was revived, with the intention of bringing trains into Grand Central Terminal. The wait may have been long, but it is nice to get a chance to see the beloved Terminal, in essence, reinvent itself yet again. Things may be changing, but at their core they really do stay the same—almost 110 years after opening, Grand Central remains dedicated to the purpose for which it was built, arguably even more of an important train station than before.

The new concourse is quite beautiful, and I was rather impressed with the subtle usage of art, color and light as visual cues for wayfinding. If you tuned in to my presentation in November about Sweden’s Tunnelbana, you’ll recall that one of the arguments for including art in transit is that it can be a functional mechanism for wayfinding and visual orientation. Grand Central Madison makes use of the technique with individual mosaics at each cross street. Corresponding wall tiles also change color depending where you’re located, along with colored LEDs lighting the platforms to further indicate direction. Teal shines the way for 48th Street, purple to 47th, blue to 46th, and green to 45th.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves… enjoy the visual vibes from the new Grand Central…