In 1960, the City Council of Novi Sad announced a public call for the passenger railway and bus station design. Since none of the proposals submitted met the requirements, the architectural studio “Architect” from Novi Sad was awarded the task. Imre Farkaš has been appointed chief designer. The modern railway station was designed in a dashing, creative atmosphere, integrating the open call requirements with expert suggestions for modernizing the railway. The station was built in record time, using simple construction techniques, and the costs were much lower than expected. The facility was completed ahead of schedule. The first train left the new station on May 24, 1964.
The linear functional scheme of the object positioned along the railway line consists of four units, specialized for specific programs, as follows: the administrative part of the building with a courtyard, in which certain facilities for passengers are also located (A), the central station hall with ticket offices and waiting rooms, defined by the roof structure (B), a block of catering facilities with the accompanying infrastructure (C) and storage space for breakbulk cargo, connected to the platform by ramps (D).
The capacity of the main station hall testifies to the ambition of establishing rail traffic as the dominant form of arrival in the city.
The building is characterized by a sawtooth roof, a symbol of a typical Pannonian house roof. However, an even more curious fact is that 17 types of stone used to cover the walls and floors of the station came from different parts of the former state. Its application gave the building a high modernist expression.
The railway station has unused spatial capacities which are waiting for reactivation. The representative space hosts a movie theatre designed for projecting movies for passengers waiting for their train. Today, this extremely acoustic hall is not in use.
Novi Sad railway station design represents an authentic step forward in conceptual, functional, constructive, and urban terms. Despite not being adequately valorized, the railway station building, almost six decades later, is without a doubt a representative example of post-war modernism. Thanks to modern design, distinctly modernist composition, and spatial capacities, this unique building has become a recognizable city symbol. The station was and still is the gate of the city. However, the emblematic “architectural miracle” became a feeble silhouette of a glorious past. Despite representing a unique architectural heritage of the post-war period, the railway station is still waiting for official confirmation of its values to become part of the corpus of Yugoslav modernism.
