Emerging from the mud of Ground Zero in New York City, and now very visible above the hoardings, the rusty steel skeleton of Santiago Calatrava’s new transport hub evokes the fossilised carcase of a dinosaur. It works well as a symbol for a construction project that seems to be progressing at an almost paleontological pace.
Twelve years after 9/11 only the Memorial Site is finished, and even the drama of that is still emasculated by the oppressive entrance through airport-style security and a long walk snaking through the construction site.
Calatrava’s emerging monster is the crown of a massive rebuilding of the city at subterranean level. The first small concourse has just opened and, elegant and white as it might be, it gives no hint of the scale or complexity of this eye-wateringly expensive transit hub. Projected a decade ago to cost $2bn (and to finish in 2009), it is now up to $4bn (and might be completed in 2015).