Full Width [alt+shift+f] Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
38
With a horrid shock of recognition, I suddenly realised what Stoke-on-Trent Bus Station reminded me of. As a one-time public transport officer in a local authority I, like most others, often experienced the depressing feeling of being unable to source enough funding to keep an originally good idea going. And it was that. The gulf […]
over a year ago

Improve your reading experience

Logged in users get linked directly to articles resulting in a better reading experience. Please login for free, it takes less than 1 minute.

More from The Beauty of Transport

Never(?) Decreasing Circles (Railtrack/Network Rail major station logos, UK (continued))

One of the most enduringly popular articles on this website (at least in terms of clicks and re-posts) is a very early one, from 2013. It concerns the graphic identities created for Railtrack’s major stations by Citigate Lloyd Northover. These ones… Firstly – have I really been writing this website on and off for that […]

7 months ago 88 votes
The Inbetweeners (Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International, UK)

Well then. At the end of the last article I promised to write about the stations on HS2 phase 1 assuming that I hadn’t been too enraged by the political fallout from hopefully soon-to-be-ex-prime minister Rishi Sunak’s cancellation of phase 2 of HS2. Reader, I have been enraged. I have had to have a very […]

a year ago 121 votes
High Speed at High Speed (Tianjin West station, China)

In scale and speed of construction, Tianjin West seems almost impossible – especially when viewed from Britain. It is, therefore, the perfect embodiment of China’s high speed rail network, on which the station can be found. It is also, I am sorry to say, the antithesis of the development of high speed rail in the […]

a year ago 54 votes
Chemical Attraction (Hackney Wick station, London, UK)

It is hard to overstate the impact Hackney Wick station makes on a visitor, as well as the unexpectedness of it doing so. Reopened in 2018 after a complete rebuild, it is one of the most photogenic small stations on the British rail network. Yet somehow, it seems to have slipped somewhat under the radar; […]

a year ago 94 votes
Clean Lines and Integrated Transport (Florastrasse transport hub, Adliswil, Switzerland)

The thing about Switzerland’s affordable, hyper-reliable, hyper-integrated and hyper-ubiquitous public transport system is that the regard in which its phenomenal operational expertise is held can overshadow the architectural successes it also demonstrates. Even when transport architecture does enter consideration, thanks to Switzerland’s reputation for scenic delights it can be hard to shift the mental picture […]

a year ago 85 votes

More in architecture

Blending Into Nature: A Half-Buried House With A Green Roof

Set in the lush terrain of Galamares, a small village in Sintra, Portugal, this minimalist home is more than a place to live, it's a personal milestone for architect Vasco Lima Mayer. Designed while still a student, it was his first independent commission, making it both intimate and deeply intentional. Every decision was shaped by the surrounding mountains, resulting in a home that embraces quiet simplicity and a deep connection to nature.

16 hours ago 2 votes
The Irony of Nigeria’s Resilient Democracy and Growing Legacy of Urban Tyranny

Planning policies reflect a deep disdain for the poor, prioritizing elite aesthetics over social equity.

2 days ago 2 votes
Open Borders

A border is an idea so powerful that we never even have to see it to believe it. Or believe in it. Global borders can be sites of peace and conflict, violence and celebration, opportunity and confinement. And borders as they exist today – which is to say, increasingly militarized and clearly defined – are

3 days ago 5 votes
Outdoor Seating You’d Actually Want to Visit: Where Nature Is Wrapped in a Whimsical Birdcage

At the heart of San Francisco’s Mission Rock development, The Garden Party by Min Design transforms a bustling pedestrian path into something softer, slower, and more inviting.

3 days ago 3 votes
Andrés Duany and Others on the Legacy of Léon Krier

With tributes from Witold Rybczynski, Gerhard W. Mayer, James Howard Kuntsler, and Jeff Speck.

4 days ago 5 votes