Cities have always been looking to increase the flow of traffic and people better. The ever-changing landscape of an urban area presents many challenges for designers as the city landscape can change rather quickly, while it may take longer for the transit infrastructure to catch up. Thus, as learned during the guest lecture, it is important more so than ever to ensure positive and long lasting effects from today’s transportation design and architecture.
The new 'bike friendly' Norreport Station
[http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/04/cobe-wins-first-prize-for-bike-friendly-norreport-station-in-copenhagen/]
Coming from a city with little to no public transit, I’m overall impressed by Copenhagen’s system, but it certainly has its faults. Each morning I arrive to a crowded platform at Norreport Station filled with strollers, suitcases and the occasional smoker. With 7 train lines running into the old station the morning commute can be quite hectic. The new station design looks to alleviate some of these problems while better integrating it into the city street (abolishing the current island form). I believe the new improvements will help the station to function much more efficiently, much like Denmark’s top rated metro system.
[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nørreport_Station_07.JPG]
Throughout my time in Europe this semester I have experienced several different transportation networks and stations, including: Stockholm, Rome, Frankfurt and Berlin. Copenhagen’s S-Tog falls somewhere in the middle of these systems. Although the trains are large and comfortable, the platforms and stations are more camped than say Rome’s metro. My favorite stations were in Berlin and Frankfurt. Both very different each had important unique features that made them successful. Frankfurt’s Main Station is structured much like Europe’s great historic train hubs. All the lines leave and enter the building from a single point. Berlin on the other hand was split into multiple levels and served many different train lines (S-Bahn, U-Bahn, ICE, etc) in a very modern environment.
Frankfurt's Hauptbanhof
[http://placesonline.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html]
Berlin's Hauptbanhof
Train stations are important focal points of your city. They form the first and last impression for visitors, and help to facilitate the flow of people about the city. I believe Copenhagen is on the right with their new Metro stations and hopefully the new Norreport design turns out to be just as beautiful and functional.
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