Martinez Amtrak Station: Post Modernism
— by Mike Bowermaster — 26 August 2009 — 8 comments below »
Richard Thompson & Associates Architects (RTAA) is the designer of the latest concept for our transit station. The firm has no web presence, so I felt it important to share their most significant work, the Martinez Amtrak Station. The station began construction in 1988 at a time when Post Modernism was the trending architectural style.
Martinez Amtrak and bus depot, by Richard Thompson & Associates Architects
Post Modernism was arguably one of the worst styles in the history of architecture. The simplicity and elegance of the preceding Modernism stripped buildings of their ornament. Post Modernism responded by bringing ornament back, only in a bizarre avant-garde sort of way. The movement was overtly garish in its ornament and often ironic in its symbolism. Buildings in this style usually ended up being too cerebral and theoretical in their design. This led to a complexity in the building’s look, which often was illogical to the majority of its occupants.
In a nutshell, Post Modernism created designs where wacky, out of scale ornament was tacked onto boring modern buildings.
The Martinez depot is not a prison, but a train station. Concentric Saturn-like rings crown the top of the tower.
The most obvious portion of the Martinez Station to exemplify this style from the 1980s is its tower. The tower’s “Chapstick” shaft topped by a halo of rings hearkening from planet Saturn are classic Post Modern goofiness. Inside the station are X-braces that have over-scaled metal dots at their centers. These X-braces in combination with the interior ceiling trusses all look as if they’re toothpicks stuck together with Playdoh because of the oversized joints. These structural elements look confusingly tacked on in a muddled disarray. A much more clear and elegant solution would be having the structural forces and loads integrated directly into the design and formation of the building’s massing and ornament.
Disarray of structural members, giant joints, and tacked on X-bracing makes for a confusing interior (right).
Why did our City Manager and Planning Director choose an architect whose crowning achievement is a case study in Post Modernism? (If someone from the City could write in with explanation, it would be greatly appreciated.) As it stands, RTAA is designing our station only because they’ve done a lot of suburban stations with HDR, a firm first hired to do track retaining walls and related engineering work. How we arrived at the designer for our train and ferry station was arbitrary, beyond RTAA’s affiliation with HDR.
We all collectively cross our fingers as we await the design revisions that will be publicly discussed at the next waterfront workshop:
- New train shed (roof & facade) designs;
- New tower designs; and
- New mercado (bathroom & cafe) building designs.
This meeting should have happened 18 months ago, so I’m curious how much public response the City will incorporate into the final design. We are very late in the game, but it’s very important the station fits in with the context of the waterfront.
The Martinez Amtrak station looks more like a correctional institution than a train station.
It is very difficult to understand why the city deviated so far from the original concept to what is currently being proposed. Nelson Oliva and our city councilmembers (who appoint the City Manager) are responsible for this decision. If this matter is not properly addressed, when it comes time to vote for our councilmembers, my time and resources will be directed to voting them out of office.
i will be right with you. They are supposed to ‘represent’ us, not decide for us whether or not we agree.
Better than the “Safeway Station” but still a ways to go! I agree with anonymous in wondering why they the city council deviated from a plan that was intended to compliment the existing city architecture and went searching for other alternatives. Makes me wonder.
I was amazed when these “representatives” were voted back into office the last time around. Especially Ed Balico who had the highest number of votes after all the shenanigans he had pulled. It seemed obvious to me back then that these people have become true politicians instead of the advocates that they are supposed to be.
We deserve to be in the mess we’re in now.
Maybe we’ll wise up during the next election. (hint)
I’m not an architect, but isn’t the “Plan #1″ favored for our waterfront by the designer, Richard Thompson, another example of this post-modernism? It has lots of glass and large steel trusses and a tower with illuminated panels and a clock projecting from the side of it. The Waterfront Initiative compels us to be using “Waterfront Warehouse” design. I don’t see how Thompson’s plan would conform to that at all.
The article is informative but overly critical. I comment principally not as a student of architecture but as a long-distance train rider who uses Martinez as a terminus on trips from the Pacific Northwest. One of the delights of the Martinez station is that it picks up architectural themes found Portland’s Union Station and other older grand stations. And, for the train rider who has a strong first views of Martinez are looking through the girder latticework of the rail bridge, the girder work elements inside the building are a nice leitmotif. Unlike most “way side” stations, MTZ possesses the wonderful vault found in only a very few stations along the West Coast Amtrak line – all stations serving much more populated cities. It’s a delight to get off the train and walk into the station; it’s pleasant to wait for transportation in a place that is filled with light and architectural playfulness dedicated to railroading. Postmodernism architecture certainly has it excesses (try Chicago’s Harold Washington Library) but its value – besides leading the revolt against ubiquitous and banal Modernist interpretations – is precisely that it is playful. Your station is fun and very nice indeed. Take the train and you’ll better understand the building.
@ ECL: It’s great to hear from train riders, especially dedicated long-distances ones. I understand that you and many may value Post Modern Architecture. My main point was that Post Modernism doesn’t belong on the Hercules waterfront, especially when a much more beautiful solution for the station had already been presented. What’s great is that the Martinez station’s architect, Richard Thompson & Associates, has responded and revised his design for the Hercules station to be traditional like the existing architecture of the site. Context is everything and RTAA has done a good job with the final design.
It looks nothing like a correctional instute considering there are so many windows!