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Orient Station.2 (126)
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![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1623 W: 118 N: 2802]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (11292) | The Orient Station was commissioned in the short term to serve the needs of World Expo 98 and in the long term to provide a main transport terminal for the east side of Lisbon as a future development of the city is planned for this side of the Tagus River.
Today it is one of Europe’s most comprehensive transport nodes, an important interchange for high-speed intercity trains, rapid regional rail services and a tram and metro network. The building is a huge transport interchange, connecting local and taxis, and the underground system, and providing an airport link with check-in facilities.
It also connects with the «Parque das Nacões» housing important civic functions, reached via an adjacent light industrial and social housing neighborhood.
Calatrava’s design is visually robust and suitably monumental. The cavernous space beneath the platforms, among concrete rib-like arches, provides a concourse, ticket booths and access to the underground. The coach station and car park are protected by two glass and steel awnings and are intersected by a gallery at 14 m above the ground that ends at the train station.
Horizontal order is enhanced by the feeling of spaciousness, transparency and ease of orientation, thanks to the use of laminated glass. The gallery on an intermediary floor links all the uses and is lined with shops, exiting the complex into the larger commercial center under the station square. A giant cantilevered roof juts out like a tongue, acting as ceremonial gate and gesturing towards the Expo site, and enhances the isolated nature of this station within the surrounding idiosyncratic landscape of Lisbon(*)
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(*) Data extracted from
http://architectook.net/orient-station/ |
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