Vyšehrad Train Station

Prague is facing many issues - most urgent are housing, transportation, and historical preservation. These issues can be seen in Vyšehrad – an abandoned train station building.

Vyšehrad Train Station is located in an urban core and merits historical preservation. If repurposed as a transportation hub with retail, housing, and urban space, it can function as a social hub. The urban fabric would be repaired with the reopening of the station as well as reduce travel time for residents of the area.

Prague is a city that has been struggling with building new within an older existing context. This dilemma is seen in the proposal for a new City Hall that has been languishing for 80 years. How can the city continue to grow if we stop building new buildings? Would the new become Rem Koolhass’ “junkspace”?

The existing built context should not be fossilized but rather thoughtfully repurposed and expanded. The spirit of the old should be imbued in the new. The urban fabric should continue to adapt to enhance rather than become a void parasite disconnected from its context (Bigness, Rem Koolhaas).

In this thesis proposal, the abandoned Vyšehrad Train Station is reimagined as a vital hub that supports the growing neighborhood. To reduce urban sprawl which increases commute times, the station can be retrofitted to serve as a multimodal hub comprised of transit and retail. In addition, the newly introduced bridge contains cultural program that reconnects the neighborhoods divided by the train tracks.