Beautiful Stations along the KMRT Red Lines / 耳目一新 高雄捷運紅線的特色車站
Beautiful Stations along the KMRT Red Lines
◎Text by Kuan-Chun Chen ◎Photos by Chung-Hui Pao
With the most beautiful stations, KMRT has made your train-waiting experience full of joy and surprises and has transformed the city as well.
At the beginning of construction, KMRT had decided to build a different style of rapid transit system so that it acts as more than just transportation, but also as a transformation for the city. Therefore, KMRT invited various well-known architects and artists to design fresh, innovative stations for Kaohsiung City.
Out of all of the stations, "The Dome of Light" at Formosa Boulevard Station is the one people fix their eyes on. This world's biggest glass artwork, with its 30-meter diameter and 660-square meter coverage, was created by Maestro Narcissus Quagliata from Italy. Working with German Derix Workshop, Narcissus Quagliata spent 4 and a half years creating this artwork. The dome, consisting of 4500 pieces of glass, was divided into four sections with different themes. The colorful glass describes the history of Taiwanese pursuit of freedom and democracy, and the details of the Formosa Incident in the goal of expressing the essence of rebirth and tolerance.
In addition to Formosa Boulevard Station, R4-Kaohsiung International Airport, R8-Sanduo Shopping District, R9-Central Park, and R23-Ciaotou stations have their own distinguishing features and are worthy of your gentle appreciation. The Kaohsiung International Airport station possesses the world's largest 3D glass sculpture "Emerald Laminata" created by German artist Lutz Haufschild. Adapting high-tech computer programs, Lutz cut the original sculpture into 10200 sheets of 6-mm emerald glass in order to express the power of ocean and the depth of beauty so as to create an atmosphere of ocean and waterfall for the visitors.
While greeting passengers with its eye-catching structure, R8 Sanduo Shopping District station, with its high-ceilinged main hall, radial metal ceiling, and mosaic floor will soon become the landmark for recreation and entertainment.
Attracting the same amount of attention, R9 Central Park features a "Modern Kaohsiung" theme. Designed by Richard Rogers, the most recent Pritzker Architecture Prize winner (known as the Nobel in Architecture), the underground station is introduced with sun and serenity from the park. As a result, visitors can enjoy the freshness and greenness of forests the moment they enter the station lobby.
Located at the far-north end of the red line, R23 Ciaotou station embodies the combination of cultural characteristics and history of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery with its sugar crystal-like exterior. Inside the station, the giant pottery mural "Work of Nature" reflects the glamorous history of Ciaotou.
Since KMRT commenced operation in March, these beautiful stations have drawn visitors' attention and certainly have made every Kaohsiung citizen proud. Please take a moment and take a ride on KMRT to enjoy the gorgeous scenes for yourself..jpg)
耳目一新 高雄捷運紅線的特色車站
◎文／王御風 ◎攝影／鮑忠暉
高雄市擁有全世界最美麗的捷運車站，讓一成不變在車站等候來車轉換成充滿喜悅與驚喜的新鮮感受，也讓城市面貌煥然一新。
高雄捷運興建初期，就下定決心要做一條「不一樣的捷運」，讓捷運除了交通，更有改善城市風貌的功能，因此聘請許多國外知名的建築及藝術大師，為高雄市設計讓人耳目一新的捷運站體。
在所有車站中，以美麗島站的「光之穹頂」最受人矚目，這件全世界最大的玻璃藝術由義大利藝術家水仙大師（Maestro Narcissus Quagliata）耗費四年半所創作，其直徑達三十公尺，面積六百六十平方公尺，由水仙大師與享譽歐洲的德國Derix工作坊合作完成，穹頂依創作主題分為四大區塊，共計用了4500百片玻璃窗面，勾勒出生命輪迴與台灣人的自由民主歷程以及結合美麗島事件追求民主自由的過程，表達重生與包容的內涵。
除了美麗島站外，R4高雄國際機場站、R8三多商圈站、R9中央公園站、R23橋頭火車站也各具特色，值得民眾細細品味。高雄國際機場站擁有全世界最大的3D玻璃雕塑藝術，由德裔藝術家樂子．郝夫斯恰爾德(Lutz Haufschild)創作的「凝聚的綠寶石」，樂子以高科技的電腦程式，將原型雕塑分割成10200片6mm的翠綠玻璃，展現出海洋力與美的廣闊胸襟，使進入車站的旅客彷彿置身於海浪、瀑布中。
三多商圈站的穿堂層採取中央挑空設計，並配合放射狀之金屬垂板天花板及拼花地板，塑造出「捷運之眼」的視覺意象，象徵萬物歸流之向心性。
與美麗島站同樣受人矚目的中央公園站，以「摩登高雄」為車站的風貌主題。同時委請甫榮獲普利茲克獎（建築界的諾貝爾獎)的景觀設計師Richard Rogers設計，將陽光與寧靜自公園引入地下站體，使旅客一出車站大廳即可享受原始森林般的清新綠意。
目前紅線最北的橋頭車站，則是結合橋頭鄉的地方人文特性及高雄糖廠的歷史風貌發展而成，車站外型呈現猶如糖的結晶體，車站同時設有大型陶壁公共藝術，取名「天工開物」，與橋頭風光的歷史相呼應。
隨著捷運紅線三月的通車，這些美麗的車站，吸引了試乘民眾的目光，更讓所有市民充滿驕傲，如果有空，大家不妨坐趟捷運，親自體會。