central railway station vienna
The “Südbahnhof“, the central station of Vienna, is one of the biggest and most important railway stations in Austria. The building was planned by Heinrich Hrdlicka and built from 1955 to 1961. The complex combined the two existing stations (south- and east station). The actual building brings a lot of problems for travellers because the rail is not continuous. On the other hand there is no direct connection to an underground line of the city right now, which causes a lot of fussiness reaching the centre of Vienna.
On Sunday the demolition to make place for a new station begins. The new building does not only include the platforms and its waiting hall. Around the area, a complete new part of Vienna will arise. Living space for 13.000 people, this are around 5000 flats, a school campus and office towers are going to be built. The new “Südbahnhof” gets a direct connection to the underground station U1 – Südtirolerplatz and several tram and bus lines.
The new head quarter of the Austrian Railway Federation (ÖBB) with three towers of different height (the highest 88 meters) adjoins the main station.
The ARGE Wien, consisting of the architecture studios of Theo Hotz, Ernst Hoffmann and Albert Wimmer are liable for the design and conversion of this project.
The core of the new station is a 100 meters long and 25 meters wide entrance hall. The eye catcher is the roof of the platforms, consisting out of 14 white rhombuses. Around 100 shops, restaurants and bars should settle in the 20.000 square meters of the complex. The opening of the the new main railway station is planned in 2014.
http://www.hauptbahnhof-wien.at/
