afst.bundel 8 MEI 07 - Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

Afbeelding 2 Plan of the station area. Embedded in the urban tissue,
between viaduct, railway yard and hospital garden
Afbeelding 3 Present situation. Desolate street with a closed railway
viaduct (1904)
afstudeerbundel faculteit bouwkunde
Afbeelding 5 North-west entrance. The stairs and the roof are the main
elements of the station
the enormous extra-territorial structure of the railway and the
small scaled tissue of the neighborhood seem to clash with each
other and do not seem to be in a fertile dialogue.
The aim of this project is to make a start with the redevelopment
of the high potential of Barracas by means of relatively
small interventions on specific places in the urban tissue.
The interventions try to re-define the relationship between the
two scales by processing the physical and mental value of the
area into a total model. The experiences of train traveler and
flaneur are essential parts in this investigation. These form the
point of departure for where and how to design new interventions
for urban development. The result of this investigation is
a definition of six acupunctural interventions around the railway,
which will have a big impact on the surrounding area.
At these places the train traveler and the local flaneur, which
represent the extra large scale of the railway and the small scale
of the neighborhood, will interact with each other in order to
re-find their relationship. The interventions are accompanied by
a series of design principles, which are conceptual descriptions
on how to design for the specific place, while maintaining the
special aspects of the neighborhood.
In the last part of the project one of these interventions in the
heart of Barracas was worked out into an architectural plan for
a new station area. The result is an open station area which
stitches itself into the urban tissue. It is a constellation of public
spaces which interacts with the existing railway viaduct and the
surrounding buildings. The design embodies the interaction
between extra large en small and it expresses the fascination for
the ambiguity of the city. It opens up and reveals the rear and
front side of the city and folds public and private, formal and
informal, flaneur and the train traveler.
The station itself is nothing more than a functional program of
platforms and ticket boxes. Other functions like bars, restaurants
and shops are not part of the program.
Afbeelding 6 Central station concourse. An open square accentuated
with sunlight and shadows
The aim of this basic program is to activate the surrounding and
underlying area by only the presence of this station.
The area will be able to provide space for informal activities in
the first years after construction and more formal developments,
such as shops and restaurants in the upcoming decades.
The open spaces provide places to meet, hang out, and change
trains. The station reacts to the character of the neighborhood.
It refers both to the brutal industrial history and the friendly
small scaled character. It accentuates the sphere in the area.
The construction of the station will work on two levels.
The station will change the perception of the area in the heart of
Barracas, which used to be in the mind as desolate and
deteriorated. A stop at this place will provide a detailed view over
the area and will, when new developments of the surrounding
area follow, affect the collective memory of the city.
The construction of this station will also provide a new social
and economical actor in the urban tissue of Barracas, which
stimulates new developments in the future.
With its architectural expression and urban sensibility, it shows
how the future should be in Barracas. It will be a new step
towards the development of the area.
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