Biella’s Quartier D’echange,
A new way of projecting a train station.
This project, in brief, consists of relocating the train station of Biella to a more central position, giving to the city another added value that would revitalize and centralize it’s urban form. The area proposed is currently an empty parking lot that contains some old buildings, and is exactly located within the central axis of the town, at the intersection of Via Carso, Via Cernaia, and Via Bertodano. Ironically, the lot itself also used to house the old tram Station of the city. On the other side of Via Carso and within the valley itself, lies the main train line reaching Biella, which will eventually has to be linked to the main lot of our project.
Architectonically, to be loyal to our topic addressing the issue of Urban expansion, and a a symbolic gesture, the main concept is to apply a reverse Green Sprawl over Biella: The natural valley, which will form the linear park, is to be expanded over via Carso, hence creating the road underpass, then towards and over the site itself, covering most of the functions already stated below it. This expansion is to be designed with a very fluid and organic approach, genuinely giving the impression that nature is leaping over the urban form.
As a consequence, the resulting project will be completely invisible and merging with nature, with the exception of the few puncturing elements. These elements, alongside their functional aspect, would also have the duty of signaling the presence of the intervention and offering observation platforms for the users of the park, as they discreetly span over it. Since the landscape would become a public park, temporary structures, installations and follies could be inserted in the future.
read more about this project on www.studioinvisible.org