Brooklyn Army Terminal Building B

The Brooklyn Army Terminal complex was built in 1918 and was the largest military supply base in the United States through World War II. The US government sold the property to the city in 1981, and it has since been redeveloped for commercial use. The terminal was designed by Cass Gilbert—other famous Gilbert buildings include the Woolworth Building and the US Supreme Court—and building B was the largest individual building in the world when it was completed in 1919.

Building B was the last of the places I visited during Open House New York weekend (after the Marine Air Terminal and the Treasures in the Trash collection). The atrium in Building B is the showstopper—it was once used as a loading dock and train station, processing more than 37 million tons of military supplies in its lifetime. In addition to supplies, more than 3 million troops passed through the terminal, including Elvis Presley on his way to Germany in 1958.

The concrete, off-set loading docks are beautiful in their own utilitarian way, but the skylight (once paneled in glass but now open to the sky) makes the space feel really special. New York can feel overcrowded and squeezed for space, so it always amazes me to step into a place like the Brooklyn Army Terminal that feels completely different than any other place I've ever been. I love that a building built for a decidedly unglamorous purpose—as a working, military warehouse—can be fully functional as well as incredibly beautiful.