A divine solution to the Zaragoza Delicias problem
There was only one reasonable reaction getting of the train at Zaragoza Delicias - wow.
The sheer size of the building. It's like being in an airport terminal with an indoor runway.
It was designed by Carlos Ferrater and José María Valero before the financial crash when cash (and apparently concrete) were aplenty. But spending any length of time here these days, the wow soon becomes an oh...
Why?
To find out, it's worth visiting another of Zaragoza's architectural behemoths in the centre - El Pilar.
How big is it? Look at the ants here
Actually, those ants are people. El Pilar, one of Zaragoza's two cathedrals is just to big to be relatable to humans. Luckily, they found a solution.
They built another church inside
Other mega-stations have redeeming features. Madrid Atocha has its gardens. Barcelona Sants has wall-to-wall shops, bars, ticket machines and people. Delicias is a void which makes people avoid it.
However, there may be a solution. Delicias has a twin, or rather an former self.
The old station building, which was overlooked in the rush to build big is still used today by staff - well they would wouldn't they?
It's human sized - relatable.
So how Delicias be made better?
How about learning a lesson from El Pilar - dismantle the old station and movie it inside the new one?