Train travel is returning to favor as a sensible and environmentally friendly alternative to personal transportation and air travel. How about a return to the days of the Orient Express? Check out the tourist train designed by Zuzanna Spaltabaka, a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.
MGM Express is a project made at the Department of Interior Design under the direction of Ad. Piotr Kwasierbowski. Referring to the old style of celebrating long journeys, Zuzanna Spaltabaka created a luxury tourist train. The facility provides comfortable conditions for rest and recreation during a six-day sightseeing tour of Poland. During the three-thousand-kilometer route, passengers can enjoy numerous attractions - sightseeing tours, visiting monuments and tourist sites, learning about local culture, architecture and cuisine.
MGM Express mock-up
© Susanna Spaltabaka
modern Orient Express
The backdrop for the shifting landscapes behind the windows are ASHX 01 type railcars, adapted to modern standards, from the German Waggonbau Görlitz factory, manufactured until 1956. The usable area of each is about 67 square meters. The interior of the carriage (23.5×2.8 meters), is equipped with twenty-six windows and four doors on the longer walls, and two doors at the ends of the carriage for communication inside the depot.
Wagon interiors adapted to modern standards
© Susanna Spaltabaka
luscious interiors
The designer also designed the interiors of the following carriages: a restaurant carriage, a club-bar carriage, a sleeping carriage of different standards(premium with two double compartments and a service compartment, and deluxe with three double compartments and a service compartment) and a staff carriage. Due to limited space, the diplomat opted for minimal equipment. With an emphasis on safety and comfort, the designer used rounded edges and handles, folding elements and built-in furniture, such as a multifunctional seat with a box integrated with a folding table.
design of multifunctional seat
© Susanna Spaltabaka
MGM Express carriages can be freely combined, creating a depot in various configurations depending on the assumed number of users and intended use. The design is complemented by a visual identity for the train created in the studio of Prof. Basil Krasulak, including a logo in two variants, fabrics for interior elements and a series of posters.
The project received a dean's commendation and was among the list of the best art and design diplomas of 2019 of the "Font Not Font" competition.
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Illustrations courtesy of Susanna Spaltabaka
