Saturday, April 12, 2014

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana.



I have been meaning to visit the new high speed rail station designed by Santiago Calatrava on the other side of town for ages, but I never have quite got round to it. So I Friday I decided to skive off for a couple of hours and visit this temple of structural steel.
 
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
I have seen it from a distance, but seeing it close up is quite another matter, one can appreciate the play of form, light and shadow better by standing almost alongside the structure and looking down its length.
 
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

The structure is formed by a series of rectangular tube portal frames each one slightly different to the one beside it at one metre centres. The effect is like looking at a wave. The wave pattern repeats itself every twenty-five  metres. The structure is four hundred and eighty metres long.

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
The structure was opened in 2013 and has cost more than eighty million Euros so far. It is still not quite finished. 

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

I also had a look inside. It is quite impressive but far less so than the outside. Also seeing the structure close up revels that the tubes are formed from welded plate with visible welding giving a less than perfect finish, but then I know what to look for in steel structures ( http://www.nigel-voak.it/ ) .

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
Anyway I managed to take some interesting photographs  and another visit to take some photographs with the sun at a different angle is definitely on the cards.

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
 
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana
Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana

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