Changhwa County’s Yuanlin Railway Overpass, featuring a simple and modern architectural style, is scheduled to become operational by the end of next year, the Railway Reconstruction Bureau (RRB) said yesterday.
The bureau added that the new Yuanlin railway station, whose platforms are to be elevated from the ground to the overpass, would incorporate artwork featuring trees and bamboo baskets in its design.
Public artwork designed by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is to be placed at the plaza in front of the station, the bureau said.
It will be the first time one of Kusama’s works will be featured in a railway station, the bureau said.
The 84-year-old Japanese artist is seen as one of the pioneers of pop art and uses psychedelic colors, repetition and patterns in her works.
She has exhibited her works with alongside that of artists such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.
The theme of the public art work is “I go to my boyfriend in high heels.”
The artist said that she was inspired by the idea of girls who dress up and wait at the railway station for their dates to come.
The work is decorated with flowers, which matches the fields of flowers Yuanlin is known for.
The bureau said that it hoped the artwork would become a landmark in Yuanlin and a meeting place for lovers.
The Yuanlin Railway Overpass is a 3.98km railway route that starts 900m north of the railway crossing on Beishi Road (北勢路) and runs 100m north of drainage trench in Yuanlin. The cost of construction was about NT$5.88 billion (US$196 million).
The overpass will help replace three railway crossings, five underground passages and one pedestrian skywalk along the route, the bureau said.
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