KALLITHEA URBAN RAILWAY STATION

The proposals defining elements were two axes perpendicular to each other, of which one is fixed and allows no intervention: that of the rail-tracks and of the platforms on either side of the tracks. The other axis brings the two sides of the city together above the tracks. This bridge has a key role in terms of enabling recognition of the stations immediate environment and facilitating associations between this environment and a distant one. Its importance is underlined through emphasis placed on the beginning and end of the route it delineates, from and to the areas on either side of the tracks, which are associated with the notion of movement and halt.

From the very beginning of the designing process, our goal was to articulate a complex of open-air, semi-open-air and closed spaces which make reference both to the city and to the train itself. We were concerned with the fleeting impressions of passengers on trains going by, as well as with the notion of a place that would eventually become familiar both to those residing in the area and to those passing through. We were interested in everyday reality, which we attempted to enrich by offering the possibility of a halt, a stopover, in a place that is mainly connected with the notion of movement.

The project involved renovating the existing train station, elements of which were preserved as traces of the past including the cast-iron columns and beams supporting the roof whose covering was replaced by a new construction.

The new passenger lobby with its sloping copper roof is the stations point of reference, as is the new elongated bridge with its metal steps and plank flooring.

A66: SA, DA, E. Koumarianou, M. Kalogerakou