Piano Express
Sleeping train design - a conceptThe development and history of the railroad is taking a new turn after the Industrial Revolution. Not yet as the preferred means of mass transportation that immediately conquers all long-distance routes and stations, but with a view to the comfort and specific wishes of passengers who want to travel differently. There have long been precursors to this too, such as the much-vaunted Orient Express, which even offered sophisticated cuisine, or the luxurious long-distance trains in the USA, for example between New York and San Francisco. A dimension and passion for the railroad that left all European ideas of train travel behind for a long time: two-storey trains with sleeping compartments, dining cars, panoramic cars and bathrooms that offered a number of free-standing, voluminous leather armchairs to welcome their guests in advance. The view out of the window almost suggested that a second train was heading in the same direction, in the mountains with four huge diesel locomotives. But it was regularly our own, unusually long train that we could see and which, for example, completely blew up the platform of the old western town of Laramie. It was the only way to truly appreciate the enormous dimensions of this continent. No airplane could have won this competition 40 years ago, especially not according to ecological criteria.
The new era of the railroad follows these ecological goals even more consistently. The new dream journeys now aim at possibilities for which the conditions, as shown in this exhibition, still must be created. People want to travel independently, alone or with others, with a bath and bed, with a place to work and read by the round panoramic window, with freshly brewed coffee or other hot drinks and a refrigerator filled exactly to their individual order. Perhaps from Hamburg to Sicily, with a stopover for an exhibition and a visit to friends in Munich? Or the experience of the Northern Lights in the best place for it, in the Abisko National Park in Swedish Lapland, after a journey of over 2,000 km? In the world ‘s most comfortable way. No more talk of the hustle and bustle and inconvenience of flying or the agonizing hassle of equally crowded coaches, without any service and usually without a view. Even normal train services, including those in Switzerland, cannot offer the new individualism of travel on this scale. In addition, this new service is also intended to replace domestic German flight routes and is aimed not only at holidaymakers, but also at business travellers who want to work in peace during the day on the way to a meeting or prepare for a business appointment with several people.
Our concept, inspired by the absolute minimalism of Japanese capsule hotels and innovative caravans, is based on the dimensions of the double-decker passenger carriages already in use. However, this space is implemented in a new and homely way, whereby the basic idea of compartments accessible from the outside without a connecting corridor in the direction of travel was specified by our client Techno Kirow. In our redesign, the floor space divided lengthwise in the middle makes it possible to access four double cabins via four external doors on both sides of the train. Alternatively, four-person cabins or barrier-free cabins with larger doors can be created without the middle wall. By changing the dimensions of the compartments in the direction of travel, more spacious suites or family compartments for four to five people can be created in addition to the panorama compartments for two people at the ends of the carriage. Privacy, safety, hygiene and design take sleeping car travel to a new dimension. Each compartment has 2.10 m long beds, its own bathroom with toilet and its own hygienically separate heating and air conditioning system. intended to replace domestic German flight routes and is aimed not only at holidaymakers, but also at business travelers who want to work in peace during the day on the way to a meeting or prepare for a business appointment with several people. UVC light systems ensure fast and efficient disinfection when changing occupancy. Individual access to the compartments also reduces noise outside the private compartments. Communication between the train ‘s service staff and passengers are possible at any time via a smartphone app and an emergency call system. The design, materials and lighting concept illustrate the high standards of new rail travel down to the last detail. The atmospheric change of mood between day and night is particularly appealing.
CARPE DIEM / CARPE NOCTEM, Kunstraum Techne Sphere, Leipzig 2024
When the railroads reached for the stars a long time ago, they converted their carriages as if they were airplanes. The seats were close together, the tables so low that it was better not to fold them down. And because the compartments with their sliding doors had been lined up along a corridor generations before, very few people today can remember that there were once carriages whose compartments could be boarded from the platform. When the train was running, the train was quiet. The two architects Pierro Lissoni (Lissoni & Partners) and Hadi Teherani have now taken up this principle again, with ideas for a generation of new sleeping carriages that are good for dreaming about. They had asked Ludwig Koehne, who with his engineering company Techne Kirow supplies the whole world from Leipzig with railroad cranes, monsters the size of apartment buildings, heavy and strong enough to simply lift anything from the rails, to design some wagons without a corridor in the direction of travel. Why not even more delicate, he thought, and is now presenting an exhibition in one of his factory buildings with design sketches and simulations of conceivable wagons, which ironically look like further developments of the latest and fanciest first-class cabins of the major airlines (until September 15, 2024).
No trace of plush, no ornamentation anywhere, no more of the opulence that characterizes the sleeping compartments of classic long-distance trains. Instead, an almost aseptic appearance and the austerity of a minimalist order that is completely subordinate to function. But what is possible! Furniture is pushed and folded and twisted, magically transforming from armchairs to beds and compartments from living rooms or offices to bedrooms. Beds slide out of the ceiling of the two-storey cabin, and partitions divide salons into chambers. Cupboards open under shelves, minibars are housed behind backrests, and the ladder for the loft bed folds out from a pillar. There is no mention anywhere of a conductor knocking to adjust the bed. But you wish you could see in movies the transformations that are told here in picture sequences. And while the light is still flooding in through panoramic windows, it darkens with a dark skin at the touch of a button. Because the idea for the operation is a long-distance route that is served in one direction during the day with space for relaxation or conferences and back at night as a sleeping car that combines the services of a flight and hotel - without the annoying waiting at gates and in lobbies.