Reshaping Curzon Street Station, Birmingham

The Station- a key centrality and public space within the city: Whether London, Berlin, Paris, Zürich, Munich, Rotterdam, Montpellier, Birmingham – the main stations, especially the national and international hubs create new centralities within the cities as well as they provide the most urban and public meeting points.

A central station is the hub where regional, (inter)national network of infrastructure, people, goods, information and innovation collide. At these hubs literally and figuratively different worlds come together. Stations and their urban context are the fertile ground for innovation, where the large and small scale, global and local, the jeans and the made-to-measure suit meet. It is the hyper-mobile urban target group that feels at home in a station. People meet in the central station whether they live or work in the area or just pass by for a meeting. The station is the entrance as well as the living room of the city and can be there for a driving force for urban (re-) development and economic growth.

However, to exploit this potential for the city, the station precincts needs to be addressed as city district and as specific centrality within its broader context that provides a big variety of program services and amenities, rather than just forming a technical infrastructure node.

The Urban Design Studio will focus on unveiling this potentials for urban renewal and densification around the new HS2 station in Birmingham, the first or last stop of the new high speed rail connection between the Midlands and London. Designing and testing several scenarios of regeneration and urban renewal of the ‘central district around Curzon Street Station.

The successful works of students will be selected to be presented in Birmingham and to the Independent Transport Commission (ITC). Besides we will work on an exhibition presenting the studio works in Birmingham. If possible within the framework of the presentation of the exhibition ‘Train and the City’ at Glenn Howells in Birmingham.

Information for registration to studio: The course is open to students of Architecture on Master´s level; course capacity: 15-18 pax.; Language: English; Mandatory excursion and workshop in Birmingham, approx. studio fee incl. travel: EUR 300,-;

Schedule: Studio Kick-off: Tues, Oct 16^th, time and location: tbd; Final Presentation: Feb 4^th or 7^th, 2019. (more info from Oct 1^st)

Guestprof. Ute Schneider: Ute Schneider is partner and head of the Zurich branch of KCAP, one of the most renowned urban design companies worldwide. She pursues a focus on transport-oriented developments and in this function supervised numerous large-scale projects like the new Montpellier TGV-station district, Zurich station district development and other. Ute graduated from University of Stuttgart as architect and planner. She teaches on regular base at the University of Liechtenstein in Vaduz and frequently is involved as Guest in Urban design summer schools and Project studios at several universities and architecture schools.

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