Raphael Sternberg- Grand Central Terminal opens in New York City.
February 2nd 1913.
According to Wikipedia:
Grand Central Terminal was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Reed and Stem, which was responsible for the overall design of the terminal,[36] and Warren and Wetmore, which mainly made cosmetic alterations to the exterior and interior.[167][168][169] Various elements inside the terminal were designed by French architects and artists Jules-Félix Coutan, Sylvain Salières, and Paul César Helleu.[169] Grand Central has both monumental spaces and meticulously crafted detail, especially on its facade.[170] The facade is based on an overall exterior design by Whitney Warren.
As to the design- both interior and exterior, as well as location and access:
Wikipedia has this to add:
At the time of its completion, Grand Central Terminal offered several innovations in transit-hub design. One was the use of ramps, rather than staircases, to conduct passengers and luggage through the facility. Two ramps connected the lower-level suburban concourse to the main concourse; several more led from the main concourse to entrances on 42nd Street. These ramps allowed all travelers to easily move between Grand Central’s two underground levels.[31][187][322] There were also 15 passenger elevators and six freight-and-passenger elevators scattered around the station.[187] The separation of commuter and intercity trains, as well as incoming and outgoing trains, ensured that most passengers on a given ramp would be traveling in the same direction.[323] At its opening in 1913, the terminal was theoretically able to accommodate 100 million passengers a year.[154]
The Park Avenue Viaduct, which wrapped around the terminal, allowed Park Avenue traffic to bypass the building without being diverted onto nearby streets,[207] and reconnected the only north–south avenue in midtown Manhattan that had an interruption in it.[208] The station building was also designed to accommodate the re-connection of both segments of 43rd Street by going through the concourse, if the City of New York had demanded it.[52][196]
