It's been almost 3 years since I have been living in Kharkiv city but still, I am not familiar with this city completely. Kharkiv city is known as a historical city because this city played an important role during Russian Empire if I am not wrong. Still, now this is the second-largest city of Ukraine which is still holding Soviet Architecture. People used to follow Soviet Culture a lot but after 2014, things have been started changing significantly.
People used to speak Russian but now they have their own Ukrainian language and the use of English has been seen drastically. The new generation can speak English nowadays and everywhere they have added English as a third language after Russian and Ukrainian. This is an advantage for the people like me who mostly use English for communication.
Kharkiv city is developing and is trying to adapt to modern culture instead of holding Russian Culture. New structures, buildings can be seen nowadays besides soviet architecture. I won't say they are fully adopting Scandinavian Architecture but they are trying to follow the concept of Scandinavian architecture. The new city is developing inside Kharkiv Oblast but still, Soviet Architecture is dominating the entire city.
The Metro is one of the most important and popular transport systems in Kharkiv city. Wherever you want to go in Kharkiv city either you need the metro or bus. So, all the metro stations in Kharkiv city play a significant role for the people of Kharkiv city. After Kyiv, the establishment of the metro system happened in Kharkiv in 1975 during Soviet Period (USSR) consists of 3 lines: Green, Blue, and Red. So most of the metro stations are the examples of soviet architecture. Only 2-3 metro stations are new which established during 2000-2014. Red line known as line 1 - Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska line , blue line called line 2 - Saltivska line and green line is known as line 3- Oleksiivska line which established later.
Wherever you will see this "M" symbol in Kharkiv except for Macdonald's signature, that means you are close to the metro stations or entrance of the metro stations.
This metro station is known as Sportyvna or Sportivnaya (Ukrainian: Спортивна; Russian: Спортивная). Sportyvna Station is located on Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska line which is also known as the red line and situated southwestern part of City Center. This is one of the oldest metro stations and opened in 1975 during the first establishment of the Kharkiv Metro system.
I live in Greenline which is known as "Oleksiivska line" which contains a total of nine stations. But the red line is the oldest and longest metro system in Kharkiv city. So from my home, it takes almost 35 minutes to reach this metro station called Sportyvna. First I have to go to the end of the green line station and then I have to change the direction. Basically, Sportyvna is the Junction point metro system between the Greenline and Redline.
Everyday thousands of people use this station to reach their destiny. This is one of the busiest metro station in Kharkiv. The FC Metalist Kharkiv Stadium is located near this metro station that's why the name of this station is Sportyvna. I went to Metalist Stadium once and this is the only stadium in Kharkiv. Still now many people call this station Stadium Station.
This Metro station is one of the examples of Soviet Architecture. At a first glance, Anybody will think that this is a waffle slab roof system but no, it's a single-storied vault system structure. This is huge and two lines are located there.
Design :
The station is lied underground and a single vault design with a rounded ceiling, which also reminds me of a Shell Structure or a huge arch. The ceiling is holding a specific pattern, covered with 6,200 triangles and will give you a floral visualization. At a first glance, I thought of something floral pattern but then I have realized the composition of enormous triangles.
The overall space seemed like a tunnel on a large scale with a semi-circular shape. I have not seen any columns so, that means, the entire roof is carrying the weight. This vault is built underground so the ground is giving all the resistance that is required. I think this is a Barrel vault that is constructed with brick and cement. Another name I can use for this station is Bunker Style... Hahaha...Each trainagle weight is around 100 kg.
The lighting system of this station is fully artificial and lights are hanging from the ceiling. The portions of the tracks are made of black natural stones. The polished red granite has been used for the floor to give a pavement look instead of mirror-polished tiles.
You can also see a pattern has been created on the ceiling following the color of the Ukrainian flag at the end of the station.
Inside the station, there are some sitting arrangements for the passengers which you can say the waiting area as well.
This was the overall observation of mine at the first glace of this oldest station. I would say this is one of the beautiful stations I have seen so far. This is one of the astounding examples of Soviet architecture...
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