Tema Railway Station (Inter-modal transport system)
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Date
2009-08-23
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Abstract
Novelty characterized the Victorian period. It is the period best known for inventions, for remarkable technological advances and engineering technology. The speed of change throughout the period was phenomenal, a movement best encapsulated by the arrival of the steam engine-the locomotive by Richard Trevithick (a British engineer and inventor-1804 in England).
Suddenly it was possible to travel great distances at speeds hitherto unimaginable. Within decades of the first train, a recognizable railway network sprang up. An iron spider's web, it quickly spread out, connecting up most of the country, dissolving distances. People and goods could now move easily around, and with them ideas. As travelling is now relatively cheaper, most can afford to experience the new railways and their destinations.
The population's sense of places is now transformed. No longer tied to a locality, people can move as they wished, changing jobs, towns, religious denomination and status. And this excitement and flux is reflected in the magnificent railway architecture dating from the 1830s onwards.
The design thesis focuses on the reinstating of the country's railway through a proposal for the redesign of a new station at Tema Municipality to cater for the numerous transportation problems associated with the city. This proposal was made after a detailed study of the population dynamics, commercial activities as well as futuristic programmes stipulated for the Tema community.
There was therefore the need to make a bold decision, hence the design of a magnificent structure to serve as node to attract attention and urban development within the Tema municipality. The decision to relocate the station to a new site was crucial, thus, owing to the old site's state and size as against the anticipated volume of traffic in the foreseeable future.
The design evolves out of a purely futuristic architecture with inorganic forms to express movement, dynamism and aggression (a peculiar characteristic of Futurism style of architecture). However, the peripheral warehouses and container terminal informed the decision of wide spanning and roofing making it an icon of Tema township.
Description
A postgraduate design thesis presented to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture.