This underground railway station with criss-crossing concrete beams is by Hungarian firm Spora Architects and currently under construction in Budapest.
Fővám tér forms part of a new metro line, comprising 10 stations, that will connect south Buda with the city centre.
Three levels of reinforced concrete beams rise up through a void above the platforms.
At ground level a new square will be created with large glazed areas to admit natural light down into the station.
All photographs are by Tamás Bujnovszky.
Here’s some more from the architects:
“Fővám tér” – UNDERGROUND STATION BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
The new metro line planned in Budapest is to connect South-Buda with the city center. 10 stations will be constructed in the first step. Fővám tér station is on the left side of the Danube river.
“Fővám tér” station is a twin station of the Szent Gellért tér, similarily with a complex stucture composed of a cut-and-cover box and tunnels.
The complexity of the structure is even greater, since here a new tunnel for the tramline and a new pedestrian subway has to be constructed, as well. Having the new underground station, Fővám tér will become a new gateway of the historic downtown of Pest.
The boxes are supported by three levels of reinforced concrete beams, the structure of which will be similar to a net.
There are three layers of this network, which keep the walls of the box like a bone-structure.The design of the box is determined by this sight of concrete net-structure.
Due to the construction technology, huge rooms have been created in the inner spaces of the stations. The section of the space is proportional to cross section of average street in Pest , built in the eclectic period in the 19th century, so the station can be interpreted as a inverse street or square under the surface.
Playing on natural light has been an important aspect in the architectural formation of the entire line.
The main goal is –apart from giving enough light of course- to attend on the interior design and show the architectural forming as much as possible. On the surface of Fővám tér a huge square will be created without traffic.
This will allow of locating glassy, crystalloid skylights, which will let the sunlight reach the platform level, emphasizing the unique character of the beam network.
Project credits:
Project: M4 metro line SZT.GELLÉRT TÉR, FŐVÁM TÉR UNDERGROUND STATIONS, BUDAPEST
Location: center of Budapest, Quay of River Danube, Hungary
Client: BKV Rt. DBR Metró Projekt Igazgatóság (Budapest Transport Ltd. DBR Metro Project Directory)
Year designed: 2005
Year built: 2007-2011
Status: under construction
Budget: cca. 20 million Euro/ stationvolume: 7100m2/
Stationdesign: sporaarchitects Ltd. – Tibor Dékány, Sándor Finta, Ádám Hatvani, Orsolya Vadászteam: Zsuzsa Balogh, Attilla Korompay, Bence Várhidi
General design: Palatium Stúdió Kft. -Zoltán Erő, Balázs Csapó
Construction, installations: consortium of Főmterv, Uvaterv, Mott-Macdonald
Aplied art: Tamás Komoróczky
Photo: Tamás Bujnovszky
Click above for larger image
Click above for larger image
See also:
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| National Stadium, Beijing by Herzog & de Meuron |
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Piranesi's Carceri!
We can't all be Herzog & de Meuron, or can we?
The layering is vey dramatic.
i dig this but, then again, i love breton brut which is being attacked (again). as is corbu.
"The main goal is –apart from giving enough light of course- to attend on the interior design and show the architectural forming as much as possible."
Can somebody please shed some light (no pun intended) on this statement? Or am I reading it correctly in that the only "function" per se is to allow light down onto the platform? If this was the goal, is that the most efficient solution?
Looks nice in some of the images and will create interesting shadows for sure, but I can't help but think how aged it will look in a few years after water leaks and attacks from shameless pigeons.
Incredible photos!
Hope all that concrete is still visible when complete. Looks like it could be an incredible space.
I remember some computer 3D games with scenarios very similar to the ones in the photos.
very nice, neighbours..sci-fi, a little bit creepy, yet spectacular, different, good quality..i like it. a romanian
This totally reminds me of something Daniel Libeskind would design.
It makes me feel calm. kinda sci-fi look but still organic shape reminds me of veins of a leaf. very nice.
not even a little bit so good as herzog de meuron!!!
I feel trapped looking at the photos, get me outta there.
Interestingly the concept of speed and crossing of lines in different directions and avenues of a city street intersections
I dont really get why there are 3 levels of reinforced concrete beams, who by looking at the pictures, support nothing but themselves. I get the idea that it is "nice" to show the structure and materials as they are in modern architecture, but this one seems to be "creating" structure out of the blue just to show it. How about they leave all the scaffolding there as well?
"The main goal is –apart from giving enough light of course- to attend on the interior design and show the architectural forming as much as possible."
If the beams doubled as walkways connecting you to adjoining areas of the station or rooms or such, that might be interesting. But they look a lot like just massive beams purely for the sake of decoration. What a waste, I say, a very expensive and feeble attempt to copy the look of Herzog and de Meuron without any understanding of its purpose and function.
It's very pretty but if designers are just about making pretty useless forms on top of not so interesting platforms then what good are we?
I've been down there. It is amazing.
All the beams are under pressure, not for decoration.
Could use a face-lift. Something like this maybe?- http://www.commonwealth-projects.com/projects/par…
reminds me of a creepy dream… love the utilitarian look, almost soviet in nature. would love to see the finished product.
The beams support the structure (which is basically a big underground box) against the huge horizontal forces. Without them the box would collapse. It's definitely not useless, nor for the sake of the interior design. It's a very nice fusion of architectural and structural design.