Spectacular stations: a new book puts railway architecture back on the agenda
‘Station’ takes us through the very best railway architecture of the past 120 years, a sound case for putting more effort into this most civilised forms of transport
![Railway station with dramatic pillars, from 'Station: A journey through 20th and 21st century railway architecture and design'](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/JR98wj9WR3oAZyzSUBV5bE-415-80.jpg)
Christopher Beanland’s new book, Station, is a greatest hits of railway architecture, but it comes at a time when the monumental rail project feels somewhat under threat. A lack of political will and a surfeit of wayward planning have left many big ideas on the table, at a time when investing in railways feels like the most sensible transport strategy of all.
Hauptbahnhof, Berlin, by von Gerkan, Marg and Partners, 2006
Beanland isn’t big on the politics, but he does go large on the splendour, glamour and spectacle of the modern rail interchange. The very best of these stations – in a survey that takes in big names and locations from around the world – are often those that de-tangle and simplify the massive complexity of modern interchanges. On our crowded planet, rail doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s about glueing and grafting the old with the new, directing the flow of trains, goods and people ever onwards.
Station: a journey through 20th and 21st century railway architecture and design
RER, Paris, France, Auber Pods, 1971
The featured stations range from the mighty cathedrals of travel created in the early 20th century, to idiosyncratic artistic spectacles, subterranean installations, and everything from retro to deco, neo-classicism, brutalism, high tech and more. If there’s a criticism, it’s that Station cherry picks the 50 singular best stops at the expense of those more coherent examples of railway design that span whole lines, networks, even countries.
Metro Station, Doha, Quatar, Qatar Railways Company, designed by UNStudio, 2020
As well as a best-of that covers everything from high speed to light rail, Beanland has enlisted some fellow travellers to enthuse about their best railway experiences. Station does its best to reanimate the romanticism of rail travel, rather than the commercialised reality. Many of the great buildings featured within are pointedly shown without their vital retail underbellies on show. Nevertheless, anything that heralds the railways as a triumphant and vital social space is to be celebrated: we suggest a copy for the desk of every freshly elected transport minister the world over.
Kohta Station, Kohta, Finland, by Aalto University Wood Program, 2018/19
Station: A journey through 20th and 21st century railway architecture and design, Christopher Beanland, Batsford, £25, BatsfordBooks.com, @BatsfordBooks
Also available from Amazon and Waterstones
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
80 years of BMW design in a monumental new book
‘BMW: Behind the Scenes’ is billed as the ultimate book on the Bavarian carmaker’s aesthetic history
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Car design and more: five tomes that track trends in transport design
From airline design, the heyday of concept cars through to the origins of the world’s most notable logos, five covetable books that track trends in transport design
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
Auto Erotica: new book chronicles the sensuous simplicity of vintage car ads
Vintage car ads, from the 1960s to the 1980s, are honoured in the cheekily titled new book Auto Erotica
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
Glamorous garages explored in a love letter to cars
Ultimate Collector Cars book is a billet-doux to the automotive form, lavishly showcasing the car as art from 1900 to the present day
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
Unseen Porsche images reveal the cars that could have been
Porsche lays bare its creative process in a new book, Porsche Unseen, that features unreleased car designs
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
Could the Citroen DS’s reign as a supreme design object be coming to an end?
Swiss architect Christian Sumi's new book is perhaps the final word on the creation, status and legacy of the remarkable automobile
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Hot wheels: Craig McDean celebrates fast cars and high fashion
By Tilly Macalister-Smith Last updated
-
Assouline offers a glimpse into the glamour of superyacht design
By Jonathan Bell Last updated