Around Train Stations

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-09 00:53

The 2016 students of the Faculty of Urban Planning of the Moscow Architectural Institute linked their theses with the problem of the rational use of urban spaces. The eleventh group, under the leadership of Evgeny Rusakov, chose the areas at the Moscow railway stations as sites for the design - zones that are usually desolate and completely dependent on the laid railway tracks.

Evgeny Rusakov

teacher at MARCHI:

“Several tasks were set for the students. To begin with, they had to analyze the functional and spatial planning organization of the existing station complexes, adjacent territories and their transport and pedestrian support. Further, their professional task was the search for urban planning, planning and architectural solutions that meet the context of the requirements for the rational and intensive use of the existing territories. In addition, it seemed to me important to focus the attention of the guys on one more task - they had to actively use territorial and spatial reserves - ground and aboveground - underground in the design solutions of railway stations and transfer hubs.

There are two projects in which all tasks were most successfully solved at once. These are the project "Development and reconstruction of the territory of the Kursk-Oktyabrsky diameter - CODE" by Maria and Ivan Repkin and "Spatial planning organization of the transport hub of the Belorussky railway station" by Margarita Asiryan.

Maria and Ivan worked on their graduation project as part of the specialist program. In their project "KOD", the issues of transport and pedestrian organization of the main elements were quite convincingly developed - this is a complex of three stations: Leningradsky, Yaroslavsky and Kazansky - in the northern part of the KOD, and Kurskiy station in the southern. In addition to the infrastructural organization of the KOD, the project widely presents architectural and imaginative proposals for the development of railway stations and adjacent territories.

The TPU project of the Belorussky railway station was carried out as part of the scientific research of the magistracy of the Faculty of Urban Development. In addition to the planning and volumetric-spatial solutions of the new part of the station and the multifunctional center, the author made a proposal for the development of adjacent territories from the Begovaya metro station to the Belorussky railway station square. The multi-tiered building of the TPU led to the development of a system of underground and ground elements: pedestrian connections between the station and the metro interchange hub. As a result, the student has convincingly built a spatial transport and communication framework for the multifunctional complex of the Belorussky railway station."

Development and reconstruction of the territory of the Kursk-October diameter - CODE

Maria Repkina, Ivan Repkin

The station creates the first impression of the city for visiting guests. Therefore, the adjacent territories, along with the station building itself, must be used to form a unique image of the capital. The new station building with three high-rise towers - symbols of the three railway lines - will emphasize the importance of the main transport hub. According to the project, the towers rest on a building consisting of two parts: arched and U-shaped. The first part is facing the railway like a portal that meets trains. The second one frames the square where the buildings of the old railway stations are located as monuments. Universal halls-islands are being created between the tracks of the new station. These are glass hemispheres that "wrap around" the railways. Bridges and tunnels are being created, reanimating and compacting the transport, functional and green frame of the city. Organization of air string transport over the railroad bed will help pedestrians move freely.

A KOD park is being created on the section from Kurskiy to Kazanskiy railway station above the low-lying railroad. It serves as a green "backbone", conceptually uniting two territories and areas of major transport hubs.

The idea of the Kursk railway station project is the image of two wings of a giant bird. One wing surrounds the old station building, leaving its façade open. Another covers a multifunctional complex consisting of a shopping center, a bus station and a museum. The complex harmoniously fits into the surrounding landscape, forming a new, comfortable urban environment.

Before: Railway stations in Moscow traditionally accompany vast industrial territories. Railroad directions are "smashed" against industry, making new detour routes for themselves. They are intertwined into a single system, forming an intricate conglomerate, a dead end for development in the city.

After: Thanks to the new system of pedestrian and transport links and the development of industrial zones, new spaces and commercially viable development will appear on the site of previously unused areas in the city center.

Level-by-floor functional division of three stations:

From the arched part of the building there are retail premises (on the 1st and 2nd floors) and a hotel (on the 3rd and 4th). The towers house offices for various companies, including the Moscow Metro and Russian Railways. On the ground floor there are waiting rooms, a large shopping center with a food court, storage rooms and cash desks. From here you can get to the underground parking, to the string transport station, to the towers of three stations and universal halls-spheres. A multi-storey car park is located on the lower underground levels. The underground system of passages allows a person who has arrived in the city, without leaving the station building, to get on the metro.

Floor-by-floor functional division of the Kursk railway station:

On the fourth floor of the building there are greenhouses, exhibition spaces and pavilions, as well as a number of retail premises. On the third floor, there are mainly shopping and entertainment premises, as well as exits to observation platforms oriented to the embankment. On the second level there are waiting rooms and station premises. The first floor unites two buildings of the Kursk railway station: the first is occupied by a suburban train station and a museum, the second - by public and leisure facilities. The bus station is adjacent to the building. On the underground levels there are two parking lots, underground station premises and subway passages.

Spatial planning organization of TPU Belorussky railway station

Margarita Asiryan

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the need to modernize and restructure transport networks and the infrastructure of the city as a whole through the formation of transport hubs that ensure the most effective interaction of all elements of the transport system. As a result of the analysis, a complex of problems was identified - primarily related to ensuring the interaction of various types of transport with each other, requiring a solution through the formation of a transport hub.

The organization of the spatial and planning structure of the transport interchange hub includes the placement of the main elements of the infrastructure of all interacting modes of transport and their integration. A prerequisite for each of them is the provision of pedestrian connections between all transport elements of the hub.

Modern TPUs are urban megastructures, the formation of which should be aimed at creating a harmonious environment for humans. The paper presents proposals for the formation, development and functioning of the spatial planning organization of transport interchange hubs, on the basis of which the project was created on the territory adjacent to the Belorussky railway station. The proposed spatial planning solution of the transport interchange hub provides the most concise and unimpeded passenger transfer. Public, business and cultural zones formed around the transport core have the potential to develop the market economy of the region and improve the standard of living of the adjacent micro-districts as a whole. The architectural solution of the project is aimed at ensuring sustainable development of the territory, creating a comfortable, safe and attractive - iconic - urban environment.