Railway projects in the Arab world

Building railway infrastructure clearly modernises and improves an area, but it also has a significant, irreversible impact on the landscape and environment. Successfully integrating such structures requires an ability to grasp the salient features of the place to achieve the harmonious use of shapes, colours and materials. It was just such an approach that Italferr adopted recently in parts of the Arab world, developing projects that create synergies with nature, the often harsh climate, the desert architecture and the highly urbanised coastal areas. Italferr went for a contemporary reading, taking in all of the suggestions from the places connected by the railway to obtain a repertoire of lines and volumes that project an image of architecture born out of and for those places (from the railway embankment to the tunnel entrances and stations.).
The landscape was essential in providing inspiration for the concept, which required multiple variations, especially for the railway stations as these had to convey the commercial identity of the new lines.
For example, the canyon carved over centuries by water in the rocky mountains of Oman is symbolically evoked by the massive, simple shell that has a gap - as if torn - allowing a view of the glazed structure of the station lobby. The oasis, symbol of life for desert peoples, became an open garden with luxurious vegetation and water features, welcoming travellers and accompanying them to the train, while providing shelter from the sun. The dunes, sculpted by the wind in an ever-changing landscape, provided inspiration for the curvy lines and the sequence of wide and soft spaces. Finally, the trees, symbol of fertility and refreshment, are taken up by the trunk-pillars and in the perforated roofs that, like branches, delicately filter the blinding desert sun.

ITALFERR
Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
Via V. G. Galati, 71
I - 00155 Roma
E-mail: [email protected]
www.italferr.it