Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(cnr S Lane St & 7th Ave S; ; Chinatown/International District E)
If the kids aren't up for
exploring the Asian markets or sitting still for a dim sum brunch, bring them here to
work off some energy by playing on the bronze dragon sculpture, designed by George
Tsutakawa, a Seattle native who spent much of his childhood in Japan, then returned to
become an internationally renowned sculptor and painter and a professor at the
University of Washington.
UNION STATION
LANDMARK
(401 S Jackson St; International District/Chinatown)
Another landmark to benefit from
restoration fever is Union Station, the old Union Pacific Railroad depot (1911) that was
unoccupied between 1971 and 1999. The restoration project included the preservation
of the original tile floors, clocks and windows. More than 90 years of grime was hand-
scrubbed off the exterior brick.
The Great Hall, half the size of a football field, remains an impressive space.
RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE
Pioneer Square's hallmark architecture is a revivalist style named after American
architect Henry Richardson from Louisiana, who first popularized it in Boston and
Chicago in the 1870s and '80s. It harked back to the medieval European genre of
Romanesque in vogue from the 10th to the 12th centuries. Features of Richardso-
nian Romanesque include classic Roman arches, heavy rough-cut masonry, re-
cessed doorways, and the use of decorative columns and bricks. Many of these
features can still be spotted on Pioneer Square's historic buildings.
