july-2010

THE CALATRAVA CONNECTION
From Lisbon to Zurich, Santiago Calatrava has redefined the
railway station in Europe. Last year he brought Liège back to
life with his magnificent glass and steel creation, and now
he has turned his attention to Mons. Adrian Mourby profiles
the Spaniard who is transforming Belgium’s railways
If ever a train station needed
bulldozing, it was Liège Guillemins,
an unfortunate functional structure
thrown up during the rebuilding
after World War II. The surrounding
area suffered particularly from
cheap and unimaginative building,
and much of the Baroque and
19th-century splendour of Liège was
obscured. But in the last 12 months,
all that has changed, with the
opening of Santiago Calatrava’s
glorious temple to transportation,
an extraordinary soaring white
structure that has shocked those
not familiar with his work.
The facade of Calatrava’s huge
glass and steel station is open to the
elements, describing the shape of an
eyelid. Passengers disembarking
here now share that view, gazing
towards the city of Liège through
this great aperture. All the city has
to do now is make sure it offers
something really worth looking at.
Occupying a strategic position
between Germany, France and
the Netherlands, Liège was ideally
placed to become a new TGV hub,
but to do so it needed not just the
tracks for high-speed trains, but
a new fi ve-platform station too.
In 1997 Calatrava’s design was
selected, having seen off impressive
74 METROPOLITAN