Chemnitz Main Station / Grüntuch Ernst Architects

An open, contemporary entree to the city – this is the image projected by the transformed Central Station, with an attractive new plaza that shapes visitors’ first impressions of Chemnitz. The former station concourse from the 1970s was stripped down to its supporting structure and ostentatiously opened up to the surrounding cityscape. The result is a fluid public space sheltered beneath an “urban canopy” and extending beyond the concourse to link what was once a contained space with its urban setting.