Santiago Calatrava isn't only the architect behind the scandal-plagued ascent of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub; he's a person too, you know, and he wants to remind people that he has feelings. "It has not been easy for me," Calatrava told the Wall Street Journal regarding all of the criticism he's fielded amidst the hub's major delays and massively inflateddoubledbudget, "I have been treated like a dog." The reasons for the delays, the Journal points out, are numerous, and owe in part to the interweaving of multiple projects spearheaded by a handful of agencies around the site, including the state's demand to keep the subway that runs atop the underground hub running as construction commenced four stories below.
Executive Director of the Port Authority Patrick Foye has notoriously admitted that, had the agency known how long the hub would take to come to fruition, and at what cost, it "might come to different judgments about how those dollars ought to be spent." Calatrava said that, in retrospect, expectations towards the hub's PATH stationnow eight years past its anticipated 2007 openingshould have been organized differently. The reason, Calatrava says, is that he was never consulted by the agency about what one might take as fundamental building issues, like schedule and cost.
It seems the Port Authority is tired of the architects it enlists speaking down on the agency; a separate Journal story reports that the agency has sent Calatrava a letter telling him to coordinate all press inquiries with the agency. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority said that they are "not quite sure what to make of Dr. Calatrava's musings," but are "pushing hard" to complete the transportation hub, which reportedly will open next month.
· World Trade Center Station's Troubles Take Toll on Architect [WSJ]
· With Calatrava, Port Authority Struggles With Another Top Architect [WSJ]
· Calatrava's World Trade Center Hub Is a 'Glorious Boondoggle' [Curbed]
· Calatrava's World Trade Center Hub to Open Next Month [Curbed]
· All World Trade Center Transportation Hub coverage [Curbed]
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