“What I have learned by designing my previous stations I will combine into the perfect station, and that station Tilburg will get”

Abstract

The Tilburg railway station is often regarded as a very influential architectural masterpiece. However, its place within railway architecture history, the clear relation between the design and the underlying vision and its influence on station design have not yet been analysed. This thesis aims to fill this gap and deepen the understanding of this unique station.
Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research, the evolution of station architecture is explored, with particular attention given to the architect Schelling, the direct predecessor of Van der Gaast, the architect of the Tilburg railway station.
Using both primary and secondary sources the vision of Van der Gaast has been distilled into nine points and used to analyse the Tilburg railway station. These conclusions and the interview with Miguel Loos allowed for an investigation into the influence of the station on later station designs.
The station has recently been renovated and changed extensively. The station from before and after the renovation have been compared using the same nine point system. The conclusions regarding the influence of the Tilburg railway station on station design allowed several conclusions to be drawn. These show how its own influence and changes in general station design came back into the station with respect to the original vision.
The results show how station architecture changed from being centred around waiting to transforming into transport hubs designed around efficiency and flows of people. The Tilburg railway station forms an important key in the further evolution of station design and was designed in an era where the car became a feared competitor. The station is a further development of the transport hub and has become a doorgangshuis, a place only for going through. The small plot of land helped to create a unique station design in which the roof became its most prominent aspect. It has changed station architecture in several ways and parts of it, and other changes in railway architecture came back in this station. Resulting in the Tilburg railway station as it stands today.