Damascus Car and Bus Station - 2nd prize
Architect: Abd Al-Rauf Al-Kasm
Year: 1967
City: Damascus, Syria
Building use: Infrastructure
Status: Competition proposal
Team: –
The Damascus Car and Bus Station project, announced through an architectural competition in 1967, aimed to establish a central transportation hub in the heart of the city, the Baramkeh area. The second prize in the competition was awarded to the Syrian architect Abd Al-Rauf Al-Kasm.01
Al-Kasm’s proposed form consisted of three radiating branches that interlocked in a triangular core. These branched polygons were generated from the multiplication and superimposition of the base module, a triangular unit with sides of 4.5 meters. Each branch rotated at a 120-degree angle from the next.02 The northwestern branch, situated as it was away from traffic and noise, was ideal for the five-story hotel. The remainder of the structure was set to house the station, which in turn consisted of two floors and was connected to the hotel by an arcade that completes the branched form of the cluster.03
The ground floor of the station featured essential functions outlined in the competition program, including a market, a praying hall, retail shops, and docks for cars and buses. The first floor contained the administration offices, a restaurant, and platforms for loading luggage on bus roofs.
01 (الياس شاهين، مشاريع مسابقة إنشاء محطة دمشق لانطلاق السيارات والباصات، المهندس العربي، أيلول 1967.) [Elias Chahine, Damascus Car and Bus Station Construction Competition Proposals, The Arab Engineer, September 1967.]
02 [Ibid.]
03 According to Elias Chahine, who was a member of the jury, this was the only proposal that presented this type of connection between the hotel and the station.
Each branch in the structure served an independent function, but the branches were interconnected through the central entry space. Due to it being adjacent to University Street (one of the important streets in Damascus), the western branch of the station was allocated for passenger entry and exit as well as small vehicle parking. The unloading docks for buses and cars were located in the northeastern branch, which was linked to the northern street entrance. In the southeastern branch, there were parking spaces and loading docks for cars and buses leaving through the eastern street heading towards Quneitra, Beirut, Daraa, and Aleppo.
This design ensured the continuous movement of cars in a single uninterrupted direction, streamlining their flow from the northern street toward passenger arrival docks, where cars unload passengers and their luggage before proceeding to repair shops and parking spaces, afterwards they head to departure docks to pick up departing passengers and exit into the eastern street.
Separating pedestrians from bus traffic was at the forefront when designing the station. even arriving and departing passengers were separated into distinct routes starting from the main entrance, routes which were designed with securing the arrival and departure of luggage in mind.04
The two floors of the station were clearly reflected in the main facade, divided into two horizontal parts: the lower part featured a repetition of glass panels, while the upper part showcased a row of vertical aluminum sunshades and regularly repeated frames.
04 شاهين، “مشاريع مسابقة إنشاء محطة دمشق لانطلاق السيارات والباصات.” [Chahine, “Damascus Car and Bus Station Construction Competition Proposals.”]
05 [Ibid.]
The competition jury applauded the design of this proposal for providing varied, unobstructed views of the structure from every possible vantage point. 05
01 (الياس شاهين، مشاريع مسابقة إنشاء محطة دمشق لانطلاق السيارات والباصات، المهندس العربي، أيلول 1967.) [Elias Chahine, Damascus Car and Bus Station Construction Competition Proposals, The Arab Engineer, September 1967.]
02 [Ibid.]
03 According to Elias Chahine, who was a member of the jury, this was the only proposal that presented this type of connection between the hotel and the station.
04 شاهين، “مشاريع مسابقة إنشاء محطة دمشق لانطلاق السيارات والباصات.” [Chahine, “Damascus Car and Bus Station Construction Competition Proposals.”]
05 [Ibid.]
