The GCT walking tour last Thursday was extremely interesting, since we were able to experience the terminal through the eyes of an architectural enthusiast. The main focal point of last Thursday, wasn’t just the GCT building itself, but more of GCT and its surrounding buildings that made up Terminal City. Understanding the background information around a topic is crucial in understanding the topic itself, and I feel like understanding not just GCT but the surrounding era, the economy of the time, the surrounding buildings, and how they ended up becoming part of and the inspiration to something as grand as Terminal City is just as vital as actually understanding the GCT building and its own unique history.

What I found really interesting was the architectural similarities of GCT (especially the  Pershing Square Viaduct) to Parisian architect (Alexander III Bridge). I really enjoyed how Tony (tour guide), explained how the love of Paris inspired Wilgus to bring Parisian elements into GCT. For me, it kind of shows how there are roots of Europe in our “New World” city. Yet for all our “New World” charm, we were still able to create our own statement with GCT.