THE BIRMINGHAM STREET STATION HAS QUICKLY BECOME THE CITY’S MOST RECOGNIZABLE LANDMARK.

Photos courtesy of javiercallejas.com; additional information courtesy of azpml The new street station in Birmingham, which was designed by Alejandro Zaera-Polo and his team from azpml, is an embodiment of the dynamic aspect of the railway motif… The purpose of contextually giving back to the spirit of Birmingham is for its new street station to produce an iconic architecture that, in addition to making an impression, will be able to communicate to the public the function of the building and the personality of its location at the very center of Birmingham city. The architectural expression of the concept has been inspired by the geometries of motion as well as the distortion of perception that is caused by motion. The bifurcating, undulating, and smooth forms of the track field have been transferred and embedded into the geometry of the building in order to ornate the city and to convey its historical character as a transportation hub, which is a place where multiple traffic systems, such as the famous canals, the roman roads, etc. converge and overlay one another. By explicitly replicating chosen portions of the urban environment surrounding the station, the design intends to stimulate a new sense of the urban settings that are located around the station. This new impression will hopefully be of greater significance. The design strategy attempts to re-establish coherence between form and expression throughout the re-organization of the building as well as the cladding of the outside of the structure. Both in terms of organization and appearance, the previous structure of the building was designed and constructed for a performance that is distinct from the one that is now being pursued. The design of the facade has been related to the exterior space because the cladding cannot be related to the interior of the building for practical reasons. This has made the building an instrument to intensify the perception of urban life in Birmingham’s inner city, as opposed to trying to reveal its inner structure. This method is a necessary progression of the modernist dogmas of transparency towards a more pragmatic and strategic approach, which is essential in order to face the complexity of current society. The birmingham new street station was designed to produce controlled reflection of the surrounding urban field. This was accomplished by transforming the external rain screen into a warping, reflective stainless steel surface. This allowed the station to reflect the once dark, now bright birmingham sky, the crowds of passengers, the trains entering and exiting the station, the hues of the sunset and sunrise, and other dynamic regimes present at the site. Large media panels designed in the form of eyes have been included into the building’s front in order to draw attention to the building’s four primary entryways. The field of reflections, which creates a consistent identity and serves as the exterior envelope of the building, differs on each side of the structure according to the possibilities that are available on those respective sides. if you would like to see some pictures of the station on indiaartndesign.com, please click here.