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[KRÔPKE UNDERGROUND STATION ] |
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Name:
Kröpcke |
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Design:
Massimo Iosa Ghini |
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Destination of use:
underground station |
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Manufacturer:
Sicis, Emilceramica |
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City:
Hannover |
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Ceramic Materials:
Sicis, Murano Smalto Mosaic series; Emilceramica, flooring made in unglazed vitrified stoneware 46E58 grey and 46E55 blue, size 40x60 cm |
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Country:
Germania |
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Type of intervention:
Sicis, wall coverings; Emilceramica, flooring |
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Costumers:
Üstra |
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Year of completion:
2000 |
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The Project |
Hannover’s former chief architect, Hans Adrian, once named the underground railway station at Kröpcke "a cathedral of public transport". The station, where 10 lines intersect, has four levels forms the central hub for Hannover’s travelling public. Up to 110,000 passengers a day, almost one third of the city’s total daily passenger volume, use the station at Kröpcke as starting, end or change-over point. Visually, the 25 years old ‘Auntie Kröpcke’, with its broad expanses of exposed concrete, spoke the architectural vernacular of the 60s and 70s. In the process of designing the ‘new Üstra’ (the city’s public transport operator), Auntie was to be given a new dress.
Peter Ruthenberg, for many years Üstra’s design consultant, described the requirements for the new outfit: the new look should be "friendly, optimistic, at ease with itself". The planners sought a "high level of light", coupled with a "positive feeling of space". The concept was ultimately implemented by Massimo Iosa Ghini. This gentleman from Bologna injected a new lease of life into Kröpcke station, giving it facets of character and drama previously unimagined. Ghini thought back to Rome, where he had successfully refashioned underground stations using ceramic mosaics. He reinterpreted the mosaic theme in Hannover. |
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