Amsterdam Zuid Station

Abstract

Transition Transition is to me the essence of Amsterdam Zuid Station. Transition between the station and its surroundings, between the Mahlerplein and Zuidplein. People living, people arriving, people just passing by people staying Train stations lead us from a place to another, becoming an important medium not only on an infrastructural level but also on a public and social level. Amsterdam Zuid station positioning is a crucial place of connection to the social tissue of the area. In fact, the station, in-between the two main squares, act as a bridge in a ‘river’ of railways that divide the area in two. Moreover, a new residential area and student housing will soon animate the direct surroundings. So, the project almost anatomically orchestrates the movement that characterize a station but simultaneously it defines a sequence of spaces that accompany those transitional moments that typify the place. The edges define places to move places to stay in relation to the context, the north and south atriums introduce to the interior, the passage rhythm and displace the flow, the platforms guest farewells and arrivals. The sound and light accompany the transition too. From the sound of the open public squares, to the whistling of train rails. From the reflection and transparency of the skyscrapers of the area, to the filtered light underneath the mass of railways structure. The monumentality, mass and at the same time the relatively low height of the project, compared to the high-rises is chosen to enact the experience of the place trying to leaving a collective memory and awareness of the place.