Imagine being able to hop on a metro from the comfort of your home, now won't that be cool? You don't really need to imagine that anymore because the residents of a particular building in the 'emerging mega city' of Chongqing in China can actually do that!
Liziba station, a station on Line 2’ of Chongqing Rail Transit in the Chongqing municipality in the Yuzhong District of China, is in fact located between the sixth and eighth floor of a 19-storey residential building. It opened in 2004 but contrary to the popular notion, the station and the building were constructed together as one whole structure. The railway was not built to run through the middle of an existing structure as many happen to believe.
But why?
Well, I was wondering the same but you see, modern problems require modern solutions. Apparently, this station is part of a creative solution to the problem of limited space. It seems that the city is full of skyscrapers and buildings, making it difficult to find room for transport lines and roads. Thus, the city architects came up with this unique idea to make way for this essential train route.
Interestingly, the residents are pretty happy with the whole innovation. The architects have installed noise reduction equipment at the station so noise isn't an issue and on top of that, they get to hop on the monorail without going anywhere. The station has also played a role in increasing the value of the property.
Now that you know about this unique structure, don't forget to explore the wonderful city that Chongqing is.
Can't make it to China? Well, a similar structure exists in Japan too so maybe you can check that out!
Know of any other unique architectural structures or places? Share about them here on Tripoto and help your fellow travellers out!
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