Tiburtina Station, Rome, Italy

Tiburtina Station to become the most important rail station in the Italian capital
With the completion of the Italian high speed train system, Tiburtina station will become the main stop on long distance trains increasing its visitors from 22 to 50 million annually. The more centrally located Termini station, Rome’s current main rail point, will then switch to serve the increasing commuter traffic.

The renovation of Tiburtina station in eastern Rome has been talked about since 1984 and alas works have begun. The operation is complex as it involves resizing the station, regenerating the surrounding areas and adding a stretch of road to improve the local traffic.

The architects in charge of the station redevelopment are roman based ABD Associate Architects lead by Paolo Desideri.

The new design is a bridge over the existing spinal chord of the rail tracks. It aspires to be a station at international level and a meeting point at neighbourhood level. It will be a bridge but also an urban boulevard that will reconnect two areas that had long been separated by the tracks: the residential Nomentano and the more rundown Pietralata.

The Bridge-Station is designed with flexibility of space in mind: inside, suspended multi purpose volumes have been created and vertical support structures have been eliminated to help reduce the impact of vibrations coming from the trains whizzing past below. Similar to the tongue of a bell, thanks to gravity each suspended space will soften the vibrations transmitted by the container.

The station will be a 240m long glass parallelepiped raised 9m above the ground, measuring 50m in width at a constant height of 10.5m. The 8 floating rooms housing cafés, VIP lounges, control rooms and restaurants will be connected to the ground level by escalators and lifts and to the other volumes by a runway along the side of the bridge. The 2 squares at either side of the entrances to the station will be redeveloped to accommodate the offices of Italian railways, a new metro line, a bus terminal, a shopping centre, offices and parking spaces. All aspects of the regeneration endeavour to bring a breath of fresh air to the area and to set the foundations for a pleasant functional station, creating a new standard for Italian rail stations to come. Completion is scheduled for 2010.
source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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