Historical review
The historical background of subway dates back to less than 20 years in Iran, regarding the fact that the first subway in Iran was established in 1998. That is to say, subway in Iran came into existence when the mass production reached its peak in the world; namely, the beginning of the 21st century. In other words, when mass production was taken into account in every field. Therefore, considering subway in Iran seems to be quite different from what has been experienced in cities like London, Paris and Moscow. The historical dimension of metro stations in these cities is –indeed – of cardinal importance. In addition to the underground transportation being of significance in these cities in terms of natural and postindustrial aspect, there is another aspect expressing the fact that these stations are per se considered as a heritage regarding the historical viewpoint.
project Analysis
Seeing the call for the second competition of Tabriz subway station, considering this square being under the historic shadow, gradually I realized that I will encounter the binary of unique object and mass production while designing this station. What seems to be obvious is that the economics concerned with this project should carry a typical view to this station to proceed the aims of this organization in eradicating the problem of traffic congestion, air pollution and etc. as soon as possible. Not that the architectural values are minor to this organization. But the iconic approach to that, not only in Tabriz subway but also in all new-emerging metros appears to be something useless except where the focus is on the technological approach of that city. Analogically speaking, such new things are like the kid living next door whose respect seems essential, but it is impossible to consider him/her as one of the family members.
What is the cause of this polarity? Not only due to the fact that the station of this metro have been juxtaposed the precious archeological buildings, but also because a zone of approximately 6000 meter square has been allocated to this station in one of the four parts of the main square; a place carrying a lot of potentials to turn into an urban plaza. Hence, not only the physics of this station is drawn to attention as an urban item, but also the approach applied to designing this plaza could play a remarkably significant part in this urban context. Now, we should investigate whether a metro station ( which has been observed in many countries as an element having an old history) could be of any importance as a visual attraction considering the fact that the city is supposed to be the central tourist destination of Islamic countries?
As a result, this station is not allowed to carry something contradicting its environment so that it can be considered as an icon. However, in terms of morphology, the coordination of this station with its surrounding context could not be something desirable since the spirit of the past cannot be applied to a body which essentially is in contradiction with the ancient buildings. Each era has its own traits and some compositions are considered as being not harmonious; something like a modern ethnic food.
Approaches
Thus, in this project, what was considered as the main approach to designing the stations and the urban space around it was a neutral identity in order for that to be neither something contradictory nor repetitive.
Nevertheless, bigger steps could be taken. In the old architecture of Iran, where the morphological values were in the center of attention – in other words, the building was supposed to dominate the environment- a pond was constructed in order to both take the place centrality away (through which the users had the same value as the environment), and also the water reflection trait was strengthened so that the sky, surrounding buildings and users were placed in a very unique frame. Now we could say that there is another step after “nothingness” (neutrality) which is the fact that this building is the reflection of something of great values.
To meet this purpose, we designed a pond in the center of the plaza. A pond in which there would be a mirror instead of water owing to the fact that the reflective aspect was the only center of attention. But considering the fact that the distance between historical buildings and this pond is big over the X and Y coordinates, we continued the pond along the Z coordinate so that the reflection of both precious buildings and users and also the sky are drawn into it as we had defined a slope for it. It could be implicitly pointed out that we have broken the skyline in this project, but this time towards the ground; where a vast urban activity is taking place. Nonetheless, the work does not end up in this point. Defining a glass ceiling in the center of plane, we have tried to achieve an appropriate view to sky in some points of the vertical and horizontal circulation in different surfaces.
Designing the interior parts, we have tried – observing the rules mentioned above- to reach a composition stripped of any type of complication in shaping , circulation and practice. In the minus one level , regarding the fact that the natural light has been drawn inside vastly, a suitable space has been provided in order for the commercial space to settle next to a versatile atmosphere and a coffee shop.