Thanks for posting the photos and the background on these world-class train stations. My husband and I travel in Europe often and we've often remarked on how beautiful the stations are compared to most U.S. train stations. Some stations in England, France, and Spain have beautiful buildings to admire from the outside, and inside, a variety of restaurants and shops to accommodate and entertain passengers waiting for their train. Always a pleasure to ride the rails in Europe.
Great article, thank you. Only missing the credit for those two magnificent lantern bearers, 'Lyhdynkantajat', but I appreciate you making me use my hypothalamus and look it up myself.
Lyhdynkantajat, also known as the Lantern Bearers or Stone Men (Kivimiehet), is a group of four monumental granite sculptures adorning the main entrance of Helsinki Central Station in Finland.
Created by Finnish sculptor Emil Wikström in 1914, the figures depict muscular, stern-faced humanoids holding illuminated lanterns, with their lower bodies merging into stone columns reminiscent of ancient Egyptian and Assyrian styles.
Thanks for this important article on the importance of beautiful railway stations and beautiful architecture in general. German cities are an abomination. In spite of rebuilding Berlin and Dresden to their formal beauty they constructed desert cities with grey beton and cold steel. You see the same thing in Austria and Switzerland. Im Sweden. Denmark. Soul- killing cities. I am very happy to see that there are now people who fight back. Trying to make people realise that there is no reason to promote ugliness. There is no doubt in my mind that modern ugly architecture has contributed in no insignificant way to the sharp increase of depression and mental illness in general.
There's an interesting lesson here. New technology can be more accepted when you wrap it in a humane, likeable skin. Modern tech often does the opposite of what the railway companies new.
I'd love to go Antwerp. Some of my favourites in the UK are St. Pancras's neighbour King's Cross, for the interesting contrast, Liverpool Street, sadly threatened with an insensitive tower development, and Newcastle, for its grand Tyneside classical frontage and barrel trainsheds. Abroad, Paris has some grand 'gares', including the characterful Gare de Lyon. I also love how the Gare d'Orsay has been reused as a museum.
Don't forget country stations! In the UK, a lot of them are built to look exactly like local cottages, and now have flowerbeds maintained by volunteers.
Thank you for this great article, i've been in St Pangras recently and it's truly a beautiful place to be and a stunning architecture, i was really impressed. This makes travelling by train even more exicting. Paris has a lot to offer here as well.
Thanks for posting the photos and the background on these world-class train stations. My husband and I travel in Europe often and we've often remarked on how beautiful the stations are compared to most U.S. train stations. Some stations in England, France, and Spain have beautiful buildings to admire from the outside, and inside, a variety of restaurants and shops to accommodate and entertain passengers waiting for their train. Always a pleasure to ride the rails in Europe.
Great article, thank you. Only missing the credit for those two magnificent lantern bearers, 'Lyhdynkantajat', but I appreciate you making me use my hypothalamus and look it up myself.
https://grokipedia.com/page/lyhdynkantajat
Lyhdynkantajat, also known as the Lantern Bearers or Stone Men (Kivimiehet), is a group of four monumental granite sculptures adorning the main entrance of Helsinki Central Station in Finland.
Created by Finnish sculptor Emil Wikström in 1914, the figures depict muscular, stern-faced humanoids holding illuminated lanterns, with their lower bodies merging into stone columns reminiscent of ancient Egyptian and Assyrian styles.
It is likely the government of Finland will soon replace all of the sculptures with live nukes.
/sarcasm
/not sarcasm
Thanks for this important article on the importance of beautiful railway stations and beautiful architecture in general. German cities are an abomination. In spite of rebuilding Berlin and Dresden to their formal beauty they constructed desert cities with grey beton and cold steel. You see the same thing in Austria and Switzerland. Im Sweden. Denmark. Soul- killing cities. I am very happy to see that there are now people who fight back. Trying to make people realise that there is no reason to promote ugliness. There is no doubt in my mind that modern ugly architecture has contributed in no insignificant way to the sharp increase of depression and mental illness in general.
There's an interesting lesson here. New technology can be more accepted when you wrap it in a humane, likeable skin. Modern tech often does the opposite of what the railway companies new.
I'd love to go Antwerp. Some of my favourites in the UK are St. Pancras's neighbour King's Cross, for the interesting contrast, Liverpool Street, sadly threatened with an insensitive tower development, and Newcastle, for its grand Tyneside classical frontage and barrel trainsheds. Abroad, Paris has some grand 'gares', including the characterful Gare de Lyon. I also love how the Gare d'Orsay has been reused as a museum.
Don't forget country stations! In the UK, a lot of them are built to look exactly like local cottages, and now have flowerbeds maintained by volunteers.
Thanks so much for the article and the pics.
For me the key question still is:
When was this really built and why „they“ destroyed it.. ?!
Thank you for this great article, i've been in St Pangras recently and it's truly a beautiful place to be and a stunning architecture, i was really impressed. This makes travelling by train even more exicting. Paris has a lot to offer here as well.
I enjoyed this so much. Thank you!
Great pics 📸 !!