Berlin Lehrter Station
Amazing! Ever since I first was exposed to the plans for this masterpiece, through my research for the design of a new Transbay Terminal for San Francisco, I've been awed by the design and scope of this project.
The story of Lehrter Station springs from the division and reunification of Berlin. Where Berlin once had a number of stations serving different railways, like London, the division of the city after World War Two severed the entire transportation system of the region. Some stations destroyed in the war, like the Anhalter Bahnhof, were never rebuilt. Others, like the Zoo Station, became major hubs, due to the realignment of the transportation system to serve the divided city.
For over 40 years, Berlin grew as twin cities. Lehrter Station sat near the deadly middle, about half-way along the elevated railway line that runs east-west across the city, just west of the Berlin Wall.