Fresno High Speed Rail Terminal
Currently, the biggest criticism of the proposed California high speed rail is that the stage one destination [Fresno] makes for a “train to nowhere”. My goal for this project was to design a terminal that would not only satisfy the needs of the rail line, but serve as a key building block in the future development of Fresno, in order to create meaning in the place. By expanding the program of the terminal, and providing ample public green space and retail/restaurant spaces, I plan on making the station a destination worth traveling to for its own sake, and instilling a more concrete sense of place identity in the people who currently live in Fresno. For the design of the terminal, I ran with the concept of two offset bullet trajectories piercing, and consequently rotating a box [terminal]. The end result is a shattered box with fragmented points. I then began using a system of connecting points in order to define the structural system of the building. The site is over top of an existing Amtrak station that will remain in tact.