As the landmark signify an entirely novel way to travel throughout the state , California ’s firsthigh - focal ratio track stationneeds to look firmly towards the time to come . Thanks to a textile calledETFE that turns its cap into a elephantine charge card balloon , this Anaheim place showcases groundbreaking intent and engineering as part of its reformist passage delegation .
On a hitch of the almost - finishedAnaheim Regional Transportation Intramodal Center(ARTIC ) this hebdomad , I see how the post hope to connect the 16 - acre plot between Angel Stadium and the Honda Center with transit service and local businesses . And I got to get up close and personal with ETFE , the polymer make ethylene tetrafluoroethylene that arcs over its puffy outside .
ETFE was selected by designer atHOKand applied scientist fromParsons Brinckerhoffprecisely because of its sustainability qualities . It ’s far more lightweight than most other material used for roofing , meaning the rest of the bodily structure does n’t have to be bulked up to hold it . And it allows natural light to enter the cavernous space , saving on energy toll . If the building ever want to be demolished , the roofing can be recycle .
But ETFE also has a few calibre that I can only describe as magic . It ’s self - cleaning , meaning it does n’t require any additional resource , like H2O , to rinse it off — it ’s slippery enough that dust does n’t really cling to it . And instead of feeling like you ’ve stepped into an airlock , the textile is really somewhat breathable so it does n’t act like a greenhouse . Heating and chill system are installed in the floor to chair the temperature only where humans will be walking . But on a 90 - level day , the ETFE shield enough of the sun to keep things comfortable inside .
With all these great quality you ’d retrieve it would be stretch across every building in the land . But while it ’s widely used throughout Europe and Asia — most famously on Beijing ’s Olympic Water Cube — ETFE has n’t been as embraced by U.S. architects . ARTIC is so far the prominent program of the material in the U.S. , with about 200,000 straight foot , enough to cover 4.5 football game stadiums . coincidently , the new Vikings stadium under construction in Minneapolis will habituate ETFE , too .
ETFE ’s pneumatic panels are misleadingly strong . What looks like a single bubble is actually three sheets of wooden-headed plastic , the exterior shroud coated with a honeycomb approach pattern to reflect solar shaft . A ventilation arrangement pumps aviation into the pocket , keeping them separate from each other .
But of form , because ETFE translate any surface into what ’s essentially a giant inflatable , it can be puncture if you have a tart enough aim . That ’s why the place design will keep passengers far away from the curving walls . But we got to touch them on the tour . The ETFE feels like a very duncish , very firm pool raft .
plan service manager Rudy H. Emami certify ETFE ’s tensile strength
In add-on to the striking patterns make by the catenary curves of steel arching over the station , tiny strips of LED light source execute along each electron beam . These can be programme to illuminate in four dissimilar colors , in any pattern or sequence .
The lights slowly transitioned from one color to another while we were there during the day , adding elusive illumination . But at night , these lights operate together for a seriously striking effect . The entire building can glow a single color — like Angels red , to lionise the triumph over the thruway .
The station ’s design has to work extra hard , pulling together many forms of transportation under one roof : local and regional busbar , Metrolink and Amtrak train , and a heavily used bikeway and wheel parking . Not to advert the increased pedestrian capacity needed for games and special events . Then , sometime in the next two decades , the station will addhigh - speed rail alinement , which will be put down just to the south of the existing unconstipated - speed track .
While there ’s no definite timeline for when the high - swiftness rails will arrive , the route will decidedly originate here on its journey north . It ’s meet that the station is fundamentally this cathedral to the future , a striking sculpture easily see from the traffic - clogged freeway that will encourage people to consider a new way to travel . Of naturally , it does n’t suffer that it ’s extremely Instagrammable , too , encourage passengers to share their journey .
In a direction , the quilt plastic ceiling almost feels like a very direct shoutout to the crystal palace train depots of nineteenth one C Europe or the drop off , lamented Penn Station in New York City . It ’s bridging the traditional estimate of train travel with an earth - shatter new epitome for the state . And it ’s doing it with beautiful innovation that ask people ’s attention . [ ARTIC ]
Citieshigh speed railtransportationurbanism
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