A piece by Edwin Slipek Jr. in this week’s Style Weekly, Our Lady of Perpetual Boxcars, takes a look at the design and effect of public space of The Plaza at Main Street Station.

A public space has been created from which one can enjoy intriguing, under-appreciated vistas of the surrounding, mostly late-19th-century urban landscape. The space encompasses elements from the muscular and heroic industrial age and the more ephemeral, postmodern information age, and it’s fascinating how romantic the sight of heavy iron trestles and weathered brick warehouses, coupled with the deafening screech of railroad brakes, can be.
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This delightful light park makes sense, as Shockoe Bottom especially comes to life at night as a dining and entertainment destination. But what is exciting about the Plaza at Main Street Station is that it exudes a spirit of innovation and modernity, and at its best moments establishes a special and welcome sense of beauty and utility in an unlikely spot. It speaks to the exciting possibilities of how downtown Richmond and all American cities can rediscover themselves by creating imaginative spaces.

Photo from lawrence_thefourth.