Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza enrtered into possession of an architectural design of the future Katowice Railway Station redevelopment. This informal project wasn’t confirmed by Polish State Railways (the owner of Railway Station) and Neinver Polska (the company which PKP has chosen for the final negotiations), as the full agreement hasn’t been reached yet.
The project supposes a shopping center in front of the Station building and to hide the Bus Station at Szewczyk Sq. under the ground. This solution also foresees an underground car park for several thousands vehicles. The overpass above the Bus Station will be demolished. Main station entrance will change its localization to the left side, near Młyńska St.
The cup-shaped pillar system supporting the roof –the symbol of a mid-century modernism architecture – will be preserved and adapted into new surroundings.
The most characteristic part of the project, twin towers at the both side of the Station roof, is the last phase of redevelopment. Schedule plan assumes to finish them in 2012.
Michał Wrzosek, the press spokesman of PKP disclosed unexpectedly yesterday that TriGranit Development Polska was invited additionally to the negotiations. TriGranit is known in Katowice for its past realization of shopping centre, housing estate (in progress) and future plan of Silesia Towers.
Wow wonderfull building here….. !
Another pointless and unrealistic project by an architect who’s probably never been to Katowice. The Wyborcza (Poland’s most popular comic) is always entertaining us with alleged plans for rebuilding either the station or the rynek. Why bury the bus stops under the ground? Why build a new shopping centre (apart from the fact that Krakow’s now got a big-ass shopping centre beside the station, which everyone hates)? We’ve already got Silesia City Centre, 3 Stawy etc – do these trendy architects think that if you build more shoe shops folk’ll buy more shoes?
The concrete blocks separating Korfantego from the rynek have been lying there since the mid-70s when they decided it was impractical to rebuild the city centre. When someone removes those blocks, or replaces them with something more permanent (e.g. more lines painted on the road) then we’ll start taking these ludicrous ideas slightly more seriously.
I come from a town where the local paper was obsessed for about 20 years with plans to build a monorail from the airport to the main station. Every few months they’d publish artists’ impressions of futuristic railways. The majority of local people laughed at this, because there’s no point spending millions on a monorail when the airport’s only 10 minutes by bus from the town centre anyway, but the architects kept drawing their pictures…