Union Station

From the outside, this building is very impressive. You can even imagine the trains rushing through the arches and onto the roads, not from a catastrophe in a movie but as part of everyday life. Inside, the hall is even more impressive. Its vast arched roof continues the arches from the outside, and it’s all very clean and pristine. Above the pillars are figures of Greek iconography to represent the progress of America. But when you step through the pillars towards the trains and shops, that’s where the architecture ends. An escalator takes you downstairs to a row of shops and beyond that is a rag market. Underneath that is a food court where dozens of fast food retailers are cramming for attention which all serve a central seating area. The classier restaurants are upstairs where they can take up more space, but there’s plenty of empty units here too. I guess all the money has gone into the airports nowadays.