Construction of Shanghai South Railway Station-a landmark of Shanghai's south gate, will be kicked off this year, and the designing plan, jointly worked out by the East China Architectural Design & Research Institute under Shanghai Modern Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd and France-based AREP company, has been unveiled recently.

"Keeping pace with the time"

Shaped like a wheel and being the world first round railway station, the station is designed to bear the message of "Keeping Pace with the Time" and will serve as an interchange of many such transportation means as railway, subway, light track and buses.

The station is located south of Huming Road, north of Shilong Road, east of the would-be Guilin Road and west of Liuzhou Road. It is endowed with a round, transparent roof covering an area of 50,000 square meters, an eye focus in daytime or at night.

Esthetic factors, modern architectures

The main building is divided into three layers. The middle layer, the ground level, is for platform. Connected with squares in north and south, it is installed with guestroom and police station.

The upper layer, designed for departures, features an overhead round platform of a circumference of 800 meters and contains passages ticket checkup and a big waiting-room that can hold 10,000 people.

The lower layer is for arrivals and equipped with underground exit passages, transit lounge and ticket hall. The layout brings much convenience for passengers' arrival at the station by different means, and those to depart could also find their way out quickly.

The design has integrated esthetic factors with modern architectural technology, and experts have entered into details of the plan.

( People's Daily January 23, 2002)