消失的美学

消失的美学

Aesthetic of Disappearance

克里斯托夫·英根霍芬和他在杜塞尔多夫的团队早在1997年就开始做斯图加特新中央火车站的设计，这么长的时间段也相称于这个项目重大的城市及社会意义。

“斯图加特这座城市，是国王下令建造在他的城堡旁边的，”建筑师克里斯托夫·英根霍芬说，“我们不知道为什么国王喜欢这个山谷，但我们知道，这里并不适合建造城市。”斯图加特，是德国南部最大的城市之一，如今正和过去一样面临出生率过低的问题。它处在一片狭窄的山谷末端、一块由陡峭山崖环绕的狭小盆地之中。19世纪建造铁路时，铁轨从山谷的北部入口开始铺设，穿过山谷后到达斯图加特的中央火车站，接着又原路返回。铁路分离了峡谷和城市，使斯图加特沦为山谷的背面。城市从过去到现在都挤压在山谷崖壁的缝隙之间。

郊区的火车站？

斯图加特的地理缺陷无法纠正。不过我们也可以改变应对这种境遇的措施——例如，之前铁轨的路线。尽端式火车站很难适应当代的高速火车体系，它们阻碍了旅程的高速接驳以及交通的流畅转换。很多欧洲城市都像斯图加特一样拥有市中心的火车站，但有不少同时在郊区有另一个高铁站。在法国，高铁站一般位于城市郊区20或30km的地方，有时候周边什么也没有。克里斯托夫·英根霍芬并不同意这种想法：“火车站属于市中心！火车相比飞机来说最大的优势就在于，旅行者一出车站就是城市中心。”

隧道，而非山谷

他们为斯图加特寻找一条解决之道，能够克服地形上的困难而将高速铁路带入城市中心。早在1990年代初，当地政府、联邦政府和铁路公司一起提出了一项伟大的计划：“斯图加特21”。它提议让火车经过隧道而非山谷到达市中心。隧道会从盆地的侧面进入，经过地下，到达现在火车站所在的位置——由此消除山谷和市中心之间的隔阂。将铁轨移入地下，能解放地面上很大的空间。在这片新的区域，可以容纳11,000人居住、24,000人工作。无疑，“斯图加特21”将是一个超大尺度的项目。

新的火车头，新的火车站

新的铁路系统意味着现存的火车站——由保罗·博纳兹建于1914年的重要历史建筑——将会被一座新车站所取代。一方面，新的铁路将会以垂直于现有铁路的方式到站；另一方面，新的铁路将比现有的深8～10m。1995年，“斯图加特21”的发起者开始筹备新火车站的设计竞赛，并在1997年发布标书。最后，来自杜塞尔多夫的英根霍芬事务所赢得竞标。克里斯托夫·英根霍芬一开始就确信，能够用一种反传统的解决方案满足“斯图加特21”带来的挑战。克里斯托夫·英根霍芬说：“你需要清除脑海中对于火车站的固有观念——那种在铁轨上建造巨型大厅的经典形式。火车站最初建于19世纪的时候，这种大厅的必要性在于让引擎喷出的蒸汽迅速扩散。如今，蒸汽火车头早已被淘汰，因此也不再需要这种大厅了。”然而，今天的火车站依然建得很高，从2006年夏天竣工的新柏林中央火车站中就可以看到。“他们的想法是让到达火车站的旅客印象深刻，”克里斯托夫·英根霍芬指出，“不过如今，旅行者只想尽快出发、或是尽量便捷地换乘。火车站仍然具有一种经过性的特质。因此我们所寻求的方案，是不装腔作势的，也不会在将城市从旧铁路的隔阂解放出来之后，再次将它隔离。”

不要洞穴

英根霍芬事务所的理念很明确：只有一座完全地下的火车站才会适应这种独特情况。“我们问自己，要如何避免在火车站中产生一种地铁站式的氛围？一座地下建筑要如何成为拥有伟大城市价值的斯图加特地标？我们不想建一座贴满瓷片的地下洞穴！莫斯科人已经向我们展现，地铁站也可以蔚为壮观。我们的火车站不应成为一个洞穴。我们希望创造具有美学价值的空间——尺度为420m×80m。“英根霍芬事务所的资深建筑师辛里奇·舒马赫回忆他和英根霍芬在项目刚开始去斯图加特考察现场时的情形，”克里斯托夫·英根霍芬说，我们需要的火车站应该是完全地下的，拥有巧妙的采光——而不是某种在地表之上统摄一切的建筑。我们设计的基本理念在很早就已确立了。”

3 网格壳体的入口/Gridshell entrance

车站实验

2006年夏天，在无数次修改和接近10年的深化之后，设计大致呈现如此：铁轨由一个420m长的、极简的混凝土薄壳结构覆盖。这个有拱顶的薄壳结构由28支“光眼”支撑。这是一种有机而建构的柱子，柱子往上升腾张开，在顶部是反向凹入的玻璃盖，自然光从这里洒入室内。这些结构以及整座建筑的几何学都是极为复杂的，覆盖车站的混凝土薄壳中，最薄的地方只有8cm。“我们希望这层外壳尽量纤薄。”克里斯托夫·英根霍芬回忆道，“一开始我们的设计采用张拉膜结构。在经过一段时间的实验之后我们发现，不，这个外壳必须是混凝土的！”传奇的德国工程师弗莱·奥托——如今已经超过80 岁i，帮助测算了尽可能轻盈的拱形结构。“实际上，这层薄壳给人的感受，就好像是从水下世界往上看一样。”英根霍芬说。由于巨大的孔洞为车站室内引入了充足的光线和新鲜空气，而且混凝土薄壳带来充沛的漫射光，因此在室内几乎不需要供暖、空调和照明。冬季，这座车站的温度不会低于10℃；夏季则不会高于25℃。

4 城市整合/Urban integration

5 新火车站将连接现在被分割开的城市肌理的两部分/The new station will link two parts of the urban fabric that have previously been divided.

6 横剖面/Cross section

轻如鸿毛，千丝万缕

新斯图加特火车站设计是高度可持续性的，不仅是从节能角度来说。这座大型结构的材料消耗压得很低，空间浪费也极少。由于混凝土屋顶结构能够承受步行交通，因此车站上方的整个地面都是可用的。壳体的顶部和地面层一起形成了新的斯特拉斯堡广场。地下车站也帮助保留了一处重要的城市绿地：地段东侧的皇宫绿地，如果车站放在地面上它将会部分受损。1914年博纳兹设计的老站房也会成为新车站的一部分——它的大厅仍会继续使用。不过所有这些，都不会像新车站的独特美学那样让未来铁路乘客印象深刻。渲染图展现的设计拥有极高的和谐、自然适应性和整体性。建造的复杂性并不会体现在表面。由于铁路处在坡地上，因此28个采光柱的高度都不相同——由8～13.5m不等。整座建筑看起来轻如鸿毛，似乎是简单拼凑起来的，几乎没有重量。

“让建筑更轻”

这种轻盈感是英根霍芬事务所的典型风格。克里斯托夫·英根霍芬说他致力于实现“消失的美学，让建筑更轻”：“建筑不应该如此复杂，或是如此装腔作势。每个项目中，我都努力找出最必要和恰当的——以及对人们最有帮助的事物。这并不意味着我们希望创造某种乐善好施的建筑，但我们不希望建筑的存在只为了建筑本身。我们脚踏实地，努力以一种实用的方式，理智而出色地建造。”那么克里斯托夫·英根霍芬是否就支持简单的功能主义呢？全球豪瑞可持续性建筑金奖及欧洲区银奖获得者微笑地说，“恰恰相反。当你面临的问题十分紧迫，你就会达成高度契合的解决方式。在我们的作品中也存在大量的情感和戏谑。”有人曾告诉他，英根霍芬事务所的建筑没有任何多余之物，当你拿走什么，就会留下一个空洞。“那恰是我所追求的！找到并分开表达两种不同的事物，对我来说远不如将两件事结合为一个整体的设计来得让人兴奋。就像斯图加特车站中的采光柱一样，它结合了多种功能：不仅是结构柱，又是建筑壳体、光线传播器，以及更多。”

吸收多少？排放多少？

克里斯托夫·英根霍芬来自一个建筑师家庭；他自己也有5个5～18岁的孩子——这无疑标志着他对于世界未来的信仰以及为之贡献的渴望。他如何协调他的大项目和大家庭之间的关系？“我的工作当然很忙。不过一方面，我不会把周末花在办公室；另一方面我相信，如果我的孩子能够理解我的项目，如果他们觉得它好，那么他们应该更能接受我的缺席。”他感觉孩子们都支持他所做的：可持续地建造。克里斯托夫·英根霍芬说：“可持续性这个词来自林学：你砍伐的木材不能超过在下次需要之前就能长好的数量。可惜在建筑施工中，这个概念并不如此简单。我们看待可持续性的方式可以有很多：也包括将材料运抵工地需要耗费多少能量？你越是深入细节，它就变得越发复杂。在我做项目时，我试图将可持续性问题简化到一个问题：建筑需要吸收多少，又排放多少——能量、水、废物、废弃、废热等等。这些独立指标相对容易控制，这样你就可以减少能量损耗和废物产生。我认为最好的建筑是尽可能自给自足的。” 克里斯托夫·英根霍芬将他自己的住宅作为可持续性建造的试验场。他尽其所能在这座核心家庭住宅中实现最大程度的自治性：例如，雨水回收、地热能和太阳能使用，以及高效保温。他的住宅正在建设之中：“作为备用取暖，我们也设置了一个燃烧木屑棒的壁炉。木屑棒是一种很好的燃料，它所产生的微粒排放物能够用一种新型过滤系统来吸收。”英根霍芬在谈到他的自宅实验时的兴奋，展现了一丝戏谑的态度——他前进了一步，挑战现有的体系。不过并不是政治或社会体系，而是建造体系。他并不受意识形态的困扰。英根霍芬不是一个替代性的环保主义者。

环境敏锐——但不过度敏感

1980年左右，当他在亚琛工业大学求学之时，一股生态浪潮席卷德国，这主要是反核能运动所带来的结果。“我的同学中大约有1/3都尽可能追求绿色；那是彼时的潮流。他们生活的格言是‘纤维代替塑料’，穿着工装裤——总体上说，就是为一切寻求最为生态的解决方式。我觉得这样的生活哲学很有趣，但并不实际。你无法控制一切！你永远不知道有机农场主实际上用什么喂养动物——最终你永远能够从一切地方找到谬误。”那些工装裤环保主义者如今被新一代环保主义者所替代，他们不再坚持唯一的意识形态。在德国，绿党也已经成为政治体系的一支力量。克里斯托夫·英根霍芬说：“德国有着优良的科技传统，我们为此而自豪。我很支持将这种传统与当下对环境的担忧相结合。如果你有某种制作精良之物，同时又满足环保要求，那么你就会被严肃对待。不过环保准则不应以教条的方式应用。我佩戴了一辈子的表不一定需要是可回收的！如果砍伐一棵柚木，建造一座可以使用100年的房子，那也是可以接受的——但是用柚木制作火柴就不可接受了。我们要明辨在不同场合采取适宜的态度。”我们知道，办公楼的使用也可以很快改变。你可以建造一座只能使用10年的办公楼，或是建造一座能够适应变化的经久结构。“只要看看我们的事务所。这座建筑可以永远使用下去。如今我们占用的1600m2的空间，也可以改作20间公寓，或是大学的研究所。我喜欢这种高度灵活的建筑，我也喜欢翻新的策略。”建筑可以看作是不断进化的生物体。“它们蜕下旧的部分，长出新的。”

Christoph Ingenhoven and his team in Düsseldorf have been working on their design for the new central train station in Stuttgart since 1997 – a period of time commensurate with the urban and social significance of the project.

"Stuttgart is a city which a king ordered next to his castle," says architect Christoph Ingenhoven. "We don't know why the king loved this valley, but we do know this place is not well suited for a city." Stuttgart, one of the largest cities in southern Germany, suffers as it were from a birth defect. It sits in a constricted basin with steep sides at the end of a narrow valley. When the railroad was built in the 19th century, the tracks were laid from the open north, through the valley, to the main station in Stuttgart, and again back out of the valley to the north. The tracks divided valley and city, forcing Stuttgart to the backside of the valley. Te city was and is effectively squeezed against the valley walls.

Train stations in the suburbs?

Te geographical defect of Stuttgart cannot be corrected. But one can change what has developed from this situation – for example the previous routing of the tracks. Dead-end terminals are poorly suited to our age of high-speed trains; they prevent rapid continuation of the journey and hinder smooth traffic flow. Many European cities have a centrally located terminal like Stuttgart, and many have also a station for high-speed trains in the outskirts. In France the stations for Trains à grande vitesse are sometimes 20 or 30 kilometers outside the city centers, somewhere in nowhere. Christoph Ingenhoven can only shake his head: "Train stations belong in the city center! One of the greatest advantages that trains have over airplanes is just that – travelers arrive directly in the center."

Through the mountain instead of through the valley

A solution was sought for Stuttgart that would bring the high-speed trains into the city center despite the difficult topographic situation. Early in the 1990s the county, the federation, and the railroad company presented a spectacular collective project: "Stuttgart 21." It proposed that the railroad should reach the center not through the valley but through tunnels. The tunnels would pass through the sides of the basin and then run underground to the site of the present station – thus eliminating the division between valley and city center. Moving the tracks underground would free the immense area they occupy today. In this area 11,000 people would then live and 24,000 would work. No question: "Stuttgart 21" is a project of grand scale.

Other locomotives – other stations

The new rail routing would mean that the current railway station – an architecturally significant building from 1914 by Paul Bonatz –would be replaced by a new one. On one hand the new tracks would come in perpendicular to the existing ones; on the other the new tracks would lie 8 to 10 meters deeper. In 1995 the initiators of "Stuttgart 21" started to work out a competition for the new station and announced it in 1997. The winner was ultimately the Düsseldorf firm Ingenhoven Architects. Christoph Ingenhoven was sure from the start to be able to meet the challenge of "Stuttgart 21" with an unconventional solution. Christoph Ingenhoven: "You have to clear your head of all preconceived notions of train stations – the classical giant hall over the tracks. When the first stations were built in the 19th century, these halls were necessary so that the steam from the engines could rise. Today steam engines are no longer in use – nobody needs halls anymore." Nevertheless train stations are still being built to great heights, as evidenced by the new Berlin Main Station inaugurated in the summer of 2006. "The idea has always been to impress arriving passengers with the station," says Christoph Ingenhoven. "But today travelers just want to move on as fast as possible, to change trains as smoothly as possibly. Train stations have something transitory about them. So we sought a solution that is not pretentious and does not divide the urban fabric anew after freeing it from the separating barrier of the old tracks."

No cavern

For Ingenhoven Architects it was clear: only a totally underground railway station would suit this special situation." We asked ourselves, how can we avoid having a subway atmosphere in our station? How can an underground building be a landmark of Stuttgart with great urban merit? We didn't want a ceramic-tiled subterranean void! The Muscovites have shown us that subway stations can be splendid. Our station should not be a cavern.We wanted to create a space with aesthetic value – 420 by 80 meters in size." Ingenhoven's long-time employee Hinrich Schumacher recalls how he and Ingenhoven went to Stuttgart at the beginning of the project in order to appraise the situation on site. "Christoph Ingenhoven said we need something that stays underground and has controlled openings – not something that dominates at ground level. Te basic concept of our design was born very early on."

Station experiments

In the summer of 2006, after uncounted revisions and nearly ten years of refinement, the design looks like this: The tracks are covered by a minimalistic concrete-shell structure 420 meters long. The vaulted shell is supported by 28 "light eyes." These are sort of organic-tectonic columns that flare and open as they rise, ultimately opening into inverted bells through which daylight flows inward. The geometry of these structures and the entire building is extremely complex; at the thinnest point the concrete shell spanning the station is just 8 centimeters thick. "We wanted the shell to be as thin as possible," recounts Christoph Ingenhoven. "First we designed tensile structures. After experimenting for some time, we realized –no, the shell must be concrete!" Legendary German engineer Frei Otto, now more than 80 years old, calculated vault structures that looked as light as possible. "And in fact the shell gives the impression that the observer is underwater looking up at the water surface," says Ingenhoven. Because the gigantic openings allow daylight and fresh air to flow into the station, and because the concrete shell reflects the light, very little energy is required for heating, cooling, and lighting. In winter the station is never colder than 10, in summer never warmer than 25 degrees centigrade.

7 车站大厅的支撑结构是拱形的无缝混凝土壳体结构/The supporting structure of the station hall is a vaulted, seamless concrete shell structure

8 新轨道将与地下东西轴线而非南北轴线对应，释放巨大的城市空间/Instead of north-south, the new tracks will be aligned on an underground east-west axis – freeing up enormous space for the city

用在必要的地方

英根霍芬坚持认为，在可持续性建造中我们应关注必要的事情。比如这些问题：建筑可以使用多久？它会占用多少土地？“土地利用是一个关键性问题，因为高密度的城市就是节能的城市。丹麦首都哥本哈根就是一个例子，它比德克萨斯的休斯顿要紧凑20倍，而且使用的能源只有后者的1/20。高密度能降低通勤距离。如今我们有一半能源用于住宅，1/4用于工业，另外1/4用于交通。可以想象，如果我们建造保温良好的住宅、居住区和商业区紧邻的稠密城市，那将会节省多么巨大的能源。”

新型交通的标志

公共交通的推动也对节能非常关键。新斯图加特火车站设计就是一种全新的、更具吸引力的交通方式的标志，一种新的抵达感受。公众都认可这样的重要性，并支持英根霍芬事务所的设计。甲方一开始还对这个设计有所犹豫，但德国铁路公司最后决定支持英根霍芬事务所的设计。创新需要不断坚持，城市规划也是如此。由于新斯图加特火车站作为“斯图加特21”项目的一部分，这项规划的通过需要克服诸多障碍，因此车站的建设也被不断推迟。不过，车站原本是最晚在2015年就要落成的。英根霍芬事务所的建筑师彼得·皮思特鲁斯已经为这个项目做了10年的工作，做出很大的贡献：“这座世纪之交的建筑就像我们的孩子！当我们在1997 年11月4日得知自己赢得了竞赛，而且我们设计的车站将会建成，这是一个难以置信的奇妙感受。作为一名建筑师，你或许一辈子只有一次机会，来实现如此重大的项目。”克里斯托夫·英根霍芬也深知这一点，他领导的约50人的事务所已经成功建成一个又一个大型项目。他说：“这样一个项目——创新、复杂、激动人心——是每个建筑师梦想完成的。它是在整个职业生涯的不懈追求之后，才最终获得的成果！”（马里乌斯·罗通艾格 文，黄华青译）

9 “天眼”均匀分布在平台之上，保证车站大厅一天长达14小时的充足自然光/Te light eyes are evenly distributed above the platforms, guaranteeing that the station hall has an adequate supply of natural light for up to 14 hours a day

译注

i 现已去世。

Light as a feather and highly complex

The design of the new Stuttgart station is exceptionally sustainable not only regarding energy efficiency. The consumption of material for such a large structure remains extremely small – as does the consumption of space. Because the concrete roof structure can support pedestrian traffic, the entire surface above the station is usable. On top of the shell, even with ground level, the new Strassburger Platz will be created. Te subterranean station also helps conserve a significant urban green space –the palace garden bordering on the east, which would have been partly destroyed by an aboveground station. The Bonatz building from 1914 is also integrated into the new project – its main hall will continue to be used. But all this will probably impress future rail travelers less than the unusual aesthetics of the new station. The 3D renderings show a design of great harmony, natural fitness, and holism. The complexity of the construction is not visible to the eye. Because the tracks are on a slope, each of the 28 daylight-columns has a different height – graduated from 8 to 13.5 meters. It all seems as light as a feather, easily thrown together, nearly weightless.

10 连续空间/Continuous space

"Making things lighter"

Such lightness is typical for Ingenhoven Architects. Christoph Ingenhoven says he strives to achieve "aesthetics of disappearance; making things lighter": "Architecture should be less elaborate –and less pretentious. In every project, I want to find out what is necessary and appropriate – and what helps people. That doesn't mean we are trying to practice some sort of good Samaritan architecture, but we also don't want architecture for architecture's sake. We have our feet on the ground and we try to build sensibly and well, in a practical way." Does Christoph Ingenhoven therefore advocate simple functionalism? The winner of the global Holcim Award Gold and the Holcim Award Silver for the region Europe smiles: "On the contrary. When you question what is really necessary, you can achieve highly refined solutions. In our work there is a lot of emotion and a lot of playfulness." Someone once told him that the designs of Ingenhoven Architects contain nothing superfluous; if you take anything away a hole will be left. "Tat's precisely what I strive for! To find and express the difference between two things is less exciting to me than integrating those two things into a unified design. Like the lightwell columns at the Stuttgart station that integrate multiple functions: they are at once structural columns, building shell, light reflectors, and more."

What comes in? What goes out?

Christoph Ingenhoven comes from a family of architects; he himself has 5 children between 5 and 18 years – an unmistakable sign of his belief in the future of this world and his desire to contribute to it. How does he reconcile his large projects and his large family? "Of course I work a lot. But on one hand I don't spend my weekends in the office, and on the other I am convinced that if my children can follow my work and if they find it good, then they will be more open to accept my absences."And he has the impression his children support what he does: building sustainably. Christoph Ingenhoven: "The term sustainability comes from forestry: You don't cut more wood than can regrow before you need more. In construction, this concept is unfortunately not so simple. One can look at sustainability in any number of ways: How much energy is consumed to transport the materials to the construction site? Te deeper you go into detail, the more complicated it gets. When I work on a project, I try to reduce the issue of sustainability to another issue: what goes into a building and what comes out – energy, water, waste, exhaust gas, waste heat, and so on. Tese individual factors can be managed relatively well; you can reduce energy consumption and waste generation. I think the optimal building is one that is as selfsufficient as possible." Christoph Ingenhoven uses his private house as a sort of experimentation lab for sustainable construction. He strives to achieve maximum autonomy of his single-family home, for instance by using rainwater, geothermal energy, solar energy and optimal insulation. His house is a work in progress: "For backup heating we installed a furnace that burns wood pellets. That's a good fuel source, but it generates particulate exhaust –for which we now have a new type of filter system." Te enthusiasm with which Ingenhoven tells of his experiments at home shows a touch of playfulness – he steps forward to challenge the system. But not the political or social systems, the building systems. He is not burdened by ideologies. Ingenhoven is not an alternative environmentalist.

Environmentally sensible – not oversensitive

11 “天眼”/"Light-eyes"

12 连接车站与城市/Connection station and city

Around 1980, as he was studying at the Aachen RWTH, an ecology wave washed across Germany, released chiefly by the movement against nuclear power. "About a third of my fellow students were as green as could be; that was in fashion then. Tey lived by the motto 'jute instead of plastic', wore bib-overalls, and tried to find the best ecological solution for everything. I found this philosophy of life very interesting but unrealistic. You can't control everything! You never know what the organic farmer really feeds his animals – in the end you can always find something wrong everywhere you look". The biboverall environmentalists have now been succeeded by environmentalists less guided by ideology – and in Germany the Green Party has become part of the political establishment. Christoph Ingenhoven: "Germany has a tradition of science and technology, and we are proud of it. I advocate combining this tradition with our environmental concerns. If you have something that is well made and also meets environmental criteria, then you will be taken seriously. But environmental criteria should not be applied dogmatically. A watch that I wear my whole life does not have to be recyclable! Cutting down a teak tree to build a house that will last a hundred years is acceptable – but it is not acceptable to make matches out of teakwood. We must judge which reactions are appropriate in which situations." We know that the use of an office building can change fast. One could respond by building a structure to last just 10 years – or by building a longlasting structure that can accommodate change. "Just look at our office. Te building will last forever. The 1,600 square meters that we occupy today could alternatively accommodate 20 apartment units. Or a university institute. I like such highly flexible buildings – and I like renovation strategies." Buildings can be seen as organisms that evolve. "Tey shed parts and gain new ones."

Save where it counts

In sustainable construction one should concentrate on the essential things, insists Ingenhoven. Questions such as: How long will the building be used? How much land will it occupy? "Land use is a critical aspect because a dense city is an energy-saving city. The Danish capital Copenhagen is for example 20 times more compact than Houston, Texas – and uses only a twentieth of the energy. Density cuts travel distances. Today we use half our energy for houses, a quarter for industry, and a quarter for transportation. You can well imagine what enormous energy savings could be achieved by well insulated houses and dense cities in which residential and commercial uses are next together!"

Symbol for new mobility

Te promotion of mass transit is also important in energy saving. The design of the new Stuttgart station is a symbol of a new and attractive mobility, a new feeling of arrival. The public recognizes this significance and supports the design of Ingenhoven Architects. Te clients were at first skeptical of the proposal, but German Railways finally decided to stand behind the proposal of Ingenhoven Architects. Innovation requires endurance. And so does urban planning. Because the new Stuttgart station can be built only as part of "Stuttgart 21" and this master plan must still pass certain hurdles, the start of construction has been postponed again and again. But the station is supposed to be inaugurated at the latest by 2015. Peter Pistorius, employee at Ingenhoven Architects, has been doing significant work on the project for 10 years: "This building of the century is our baby! When we learned on November 4, 1997 that we won the competition and that our station would be built, it was simply an unbelievable feeling. As an architect you might get one chance in a lifetime to realize something like this." Christoph Ingenhoven is also aware of this, successfully realizing large projects again and again with his office of about 50 employees. Christoph Ingenhoven: "A project like this – innovative, complex, exciting – is what every architect wants. You finally get to catch what you've been chasing your whole professional life!"(Text: Marius Leutenegger)