Comments on: Nordpark Cable Railway

By: Zaha Hadid quote from Architects Journal

Zaha Hadid quote from Architects Journal — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:05:30 +0000

‘We wanted each station to use the fluid language of natural ice formations, like a frozen stream on the mountainside,’ said
Zaha Hadid of these four gleaming, curvilinear glass stations and accompanying suspension bridge.

By: RIBA

RIBA — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:06:28 +0000

The designs are all variations on a suite of parts made up of concrete station platforms, lifts, stairs and sensuous protective canopies. The key relationship within each composition is between the concrete which forms a supporting platform, and the over-sailing canopy that acts as a heraldic signal to announce the presence of the station.

The base can be read as a moraine, connected to the earth but given form by a glacier. The canopy can be imagined as like the glacier itself, a changeable, luminous monolith curved as if shaped by melt water.

The construction of the three dimensionally curved glass forms is an achievement of great virtuosity. In the development of Zaha Hadid’s architecture from drawing to construction, this project represents a milestone in achieved form.

By: e architect online

e architect online — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:04:43 +0000

Zaha Hadid Architects won the competition to create Nordpark Cable Railway in 2005 together with the contractor Strabag. The railway is the second project completed by Zaha Hadid in the city; the Bergisel Ski Jump by Hadid was completed in 2002 and awarded the Gold Medal for Design by the International Olympic Committee in 2005.
Zaha Hadid explains that the design for each station adapts to the specific site conditions at various altitudes, whilst maintaining the coherent overall architectural language of fluidity. This approach was critical to the design for the railway, and demonstrates the seamless morphology of Hadid’s most recent architecture.
“Each station has its own unique context, topography, altitude, and circulation. We studied natural phenomena such as glacial moraines and ice movements – as we wanted each station to use the fluid language of natural ice formations, like a frozen stream on the mountainside.” says Hadid. “A high degree of flexibility within this language enables the shell structures to adjust to these various parameters whilst maintaining a coherent formal logic. Two contrasting elements ‘Shell & Shadow’ generate each station’s spatial quality, with lightweight organic roof structures of double-curvature glass ‘floating’ on top of concrete plinths, creating an artificial landscape that describes the movement and circulation within.”
New production methods such as CNC milling and thermoforming guaranteed a very precise and automatic translation of the computer generated design into the built structure. The architects used state-of-the-art design and manufacturing technologies developed for the automotive industry to create the streamlined aesthetics of each station.

The Nordpark Cable Railway continues Hadid’s quest for an architecture of seamless fluidity, representing Zaha Hadid Architects’ very latest contribution to the current global architectural discourse in digital design and construction.

By: LT

LT — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:02:50 +0000

Construction details on this project can be found in DETAIL magazine
including:
1:10 Sectional detail glass roof vertical
1:400 Floor plan of Hungerburg station
1:400 Section of Hungerburg station
1:5 Sectional Detail glass roof Horizontal
Isometric of steel-rib roof structure