Think about the bus terminals around your neighborhood -- do they seem to overpower the surrounding urban or suburban environment? The Mogadouro Bus Station in Portugal was designed to blend right in with its location so to not appear as a busy lot of parking slots packed with slow-moving mass transit vehicles.
The solution was to bring the coaches down below the surface by raising the level of the land. A row of bays has been located under full cover so that only the entry and exit of buses really gets noticed from the street. To address the manipulated landscape, Cannatà & Fernandes laid grass down over the slanted planes and constructed a glass box as a transparent waiting area and entrance for the Mogadouro Bus Station.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Underground Transit Hubs
- Opportunity to design transit hubs that blend seamlessly with their surroundings by incorporating underground spaces.
- Inconspicuous Parking Solutions
- Opportunity to create parking facilities that do not overpower the surrounding urban or suburban environment by hiding them below ground.
- Landscape Integration
- Opportunity to manipulate the landscape to create functional and visually appealing transportation infrastructure.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Architecture and Design
- Innovative architects and designers can capitalize on the trend by creating unique and visually appealing transit hubs.
- Urban Planning
- Urban planners can explore the concept of integrating transportation infrastructure into the natural landscape to enhance the overall cityscape.
- Transportation and Infrastructure
- Transportation and infrastructure industries can explore the development of inconspicuous and eco-friendly transit hubs that seamlessly blend with their surroundings.
