Located in the heart of the Flon Valley at the Place de l’Europe, this station provides the beginning of an infrastructure network of transportation systems that will link Lausanne's center to its suburban peripheries. Four different lines of commuter services converge on the group of rectilinear steel-framed structures, which are sheathed in red-printed glass. The first phase, inaugurated in 2001, consists of the regional train and bus stations, elevators, a glass-enclosed bridge and a new traffic circle. The second phase will include a subway station, escalators with a glass envelope and an oblique plaza. more

Part of the master plan that won the 1988 competition, the project develops from the distinctive hilly topography of Lausanne, where streets appear as if suspended, buildings seem either buried in the ground or like vertical passageways, and bridges serve as multi-story crossings. The Interface is one of four “inhabited bridges” that were proposed in the master plan. Its ramps, escalators and elevators connect the lower levels of the valley—which are currently filled with industrial warehouses—to the upper levels of the historical city.

The different parts of the station are conceived as movement vectors in a dynamic circulation system. The station consists of 85,000 square meters of above-ground construction, with 3,500 square meters on the underground level. It is architecture as pure infrastructure. back

Credits

SCHEDULE
Competition, 1st prize, 1988
Phase one completed 2001
SIZE
120,000 sq. feet
BUDGET
$40,000,000
CLIENT
Compagnie de Chemin de Fer LEB
PHOTOGRAPHY
Peter Mauss/Esto
TEAM
Lead Designer: Bernard Tschumi, Luca Merlini. Key Personnel: Robert Young, Gregory Merryweather, Kevin Collins, Rhett Russo, Peter Cornell, Christian Biecher, Ursula Kurz (New York and Paris), Emmanuel Ventura, Philippe Gavin, Marc Sautier (Lausanne). Consultants: Hugh Dutton (HDA), J.H. Petignat. back

Program: Infrastructure, Master Plan