ARCHITECTURE: Santiago Calatrava _______________________________________________ ADDRESS: Avenida D. João II, Lisboa _______________________________________________ CITY: Lisboa _______________________________________________ DATE: 1995-1998 _______________________________________________ VISIT: Inside - Outside _______________________________________________ MORE DETAILS: Situated in the oriental side of the city of Lisbon, and set in the centre of the Parque das Nações, the Oriente Station is one of the most insolit works of the country’s capital. The winner of the concept competition was the reputed Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava. The program presented as the fundamental aspect, the relation between the urban fabric and the landscape of the river front, proposing the elimination of the physical barrier, between the city and the river that the railway track constituted at the time. Comprising a train and metro station, the project was developed as an intermodal station supporting the Expo’98 but also with the objective of becoming the cities main transport interface. Containing eight train tracks, it is covered by a modular metallic structure whose plasticity and organicity remote to the image of four rows of trees. The forms of the platform in reinforced concrete recall some of architect Eero Saarinen’s structures. _______________________________________________