Switzerland Train Station: Stadelhofen

The light is a little harsh on these and black and white aggravated it. It was nearly mid-day. Stadelhofen is a really interesting place, and a favourite stop in Zürich for me...

The station was designed by a Santiago Calatrava 1990.

It is around 300 meters long and curved round a hillside in the town center. Very open and naturally lit with walkways above, while providing an open, platform underneath and a shopping complex beneath the whole complex.

It is so impressive and immediately there seems to be a different feel to the complex on entering it. I like the coldness and the mix between the steel and concrete. It is an impacting structure and has a real presence which is more than purely functional. I have seen some criticisms that there is a lack of greenery but somehow it seems OK here and the structure speaks for itself in my opinion.

"This large-scale attack on the urban landscape is characterised by the organisation and repetition on the part of the constructive element."

—Santiago Calatrava.

Stadelhofen is so different in so many ways and it is such a pity that more stations were not paid the same attention as this one. I am not sure why Stadelhofen was considered so special however everyone that transits through here comments on it so the attention to it, definitely has not gone unrecognised.

I think that they are better in colour...