The Formosa Boulevard Station (美麗島站) and Central Park Station (中央公園站) of Greater Kaohsiung’s Rapid Transit (KRT) System have been selected as one of the few elegant subway stations “that New Yorkers could only dream of” by US news site PolicyMic.
The New York-based online news media site chose eight stations around the world earlier this month to showcase how elegantly designed subway stations “have transformed a mundane commute into a journey through some of the world’s most beautiful architecture.”
PolicyMic selected as No. 2 on its list the art installation at the Formosa Boulevard Station, Dome of Light. The glasswork is the largest in the world within a subway station and gives the station “an otherworldly feel.”
Photo: Ke Yu-hao, Taipei Times
PolicyMic also introduced the station as a popular wedding venue.
“Imagine getting married in the Penn Station [in New York City],” the site added.
Rather than featuring large installation art, the Central Park Station — which was ranked No. 5 — resembles a giant indoor park, the US site said, adding that the station features windmill-shaped flowers and a large grass-like area.
“It provides a green oasis in the populated city and is among the most original stations in the world,” it said.
This was not the first time that the Formosa Boulevard Station has been recognized as a major tourist drawcard in Taiwan.
The Dome of Light was listed earlier this month by CNN as one of the 10 reasons to love Greater Kaohsiung, apart from its night markets and several of the county’s other destinations.
The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp said in a statement that the design of the Formosa Boulevard Station was meant to reflect two important elements of Greater Kaohisung: its history and the ocean, adding that the station had originally been intended as a new city landmark.
According to the metro system operator, the train station’s above-ground entrance, which resembles a pair of the clasped hands, was designed using the theme of prayer.
The Dome of Light, designed by American-Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata, was a masterpiece combining glass, colors and light, the company said.
“We hope that the residents of Greater Kaohsiung can experience and appreciate the beautiful atmosphere that we have created for them while they walk under the dome,” the company added.
PolicyMic’s international list for elegant subway stations includes Komsomolskaya Station in Moscow, Kirovsky Zavod Station in Saint Petersburg, T-Centralen Station in Stockholm, Champ-De-Mars station in Montreal and City Hall Station in New York.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
RSS