Designing the spaces between destinations: A conversation with Kurt Ziegel
Kurt Ziegel is a design principal with nearly two decades of experience shaping some of Chicago’s most significant transportation spaces, specializing in complex station design across transit and aviation environments. Early exposure to transportation projects sparked his commitment to creating thoughtful, people‑centered spaces that support how passengers move through stations and terminals alike. Since then, he has led the redesign of stations and transportation facilities across the region for clients such as Chicago Department of Aviation, Metra, and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), revitalizing aging infrastructure into places that are accessible, intuitive and deeply connected to the neighborhoods they serve. Kurt is recognized for his ability to balance technical demands with the passenger experience, bringing a collaborative, solutions‑driven approach to each project. At AECOM, he continues to advance transportation design that strengthens communities, improves access and reinforces transit and aviation facilities as vital parts of everyday life.
Can you walk us through your journey, specifically into station design and what led you to your role at AECOM?
I graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2008 and began my career in Chicago. Early on, I had the opportunity to work on transportation‑focused projects across transit, passenger rail and aviation, which immediately drew me in. I’ve always been energized by both the complexity and impact of these projects, and I appreciated the distinct design and coordination challenges that come with infrastructure‑driven work.
After a period working on high‑rise tower projects, I realized my long‑term interests were better aligned with mobility and public infrastructure. I returned to Chicago to work on several significant station projects for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Metra, including the Washington/Wabash Station in the Loop. From there, I joined a smaller local practice, where I spent the next decade focused almost exclusively on large‑scale transit and aviation projects—such as the CTA Red‑Purple Line Modernization, Red Line Extension Phase 1 station designs, multiple Metra and Amtrak station projects, and terminal work at Midway, O’hare, DFW, and SEA Airports. Coming to AECOM provided an opportunity to double down and really focus on transportation projects at an even greater scale.
What inspires you about designing transit environments, particularly in a city like Chicago?
I’m inspired by the inherent complexity. Transit projects almost always require retrofitting or adapting an existing piece of infrastructure, so they demand creative problem-solving and close collaboration with every engineering discipline. It’s never straightforward — and that’s what makes it exciting.
Equally important is the civic impact. Stations may represent only a small percentage of a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure investment, but they’re what people see and use as they’re navigating the city. They become the backdrop of daily life. When we elevate a station’s design, we directly improve thousands of people’s day-to-day experience.
How do you balance functionality, passenger experience and architectural identity throughout your designs?
That balance is the core challenge. The public doesn’t see the engineering complexity behind the scenes; they experience the architecture and judge the investment by how the station looks and functions. We must deliver something that is intuitive, safe, durable and operationally sound, while also creating an identity that resonates with users.
My mindset is that architects are stewards of public dollars. We need to deliver high-impact, high-quality design even when the architectural component is a small slice of the overall budget.
How do you reflect local identity in your designs?
Many times, it’s a balancing act. In the case of transit projects there is often a tension between agency identity, line identity and neighborhood identity. Agencies like CTA and Metra have established standards and “kits of parts,” but each station sits within a unique community context. Our role is to adapt the kit — materials, forms, transparency, public art or landscape — to reflect its immediate context, as well as the cultural and historic identity of a community of which the station is a part. It’s about finding those site-specific or unique features that will make the station feel rooted in the neighborhood it serves.
What does your design process look like when you’re starting a new project?
There’s a lot of research involved as research is the foundation. On our current CTA project at Belmont and Irving Park, for example, we’re working to modify two stations that were constructed in the 1960’s and have been modified repeatedly over their life span. Developing a thorough understanding of those layers is essential. As we uncover new information, it can often reshape design decisions. It’s critical to have as much of this information up front as possible.
Equally important is building a deeply collaborative culture among the team. Transit projects can’t be designed in disciplinary silos — architecture and engineering need to work hand in hand at every step. Establishing shared ownership of the design challenges is key to successful outcomes.
Are there any trends right now that you think are shaping the future of transit station design?
Greater cohesion between different systems. There’s growing emphasis in finding opportunities to create multimodal connections between systems such as CTA, Metra, buses, and micro mobility feel more connected and intuitive. When we get this right, the public’s ability to move throughout the city is greatly improved.
Additionally, integration with emerging mobility technologies like autonomous shuttles, e VTOLs, and new micromobility modes, and treating mobility as a coordinated service provided to the public are becoming real considerations, not science fiction.
A stronger emphasis on accessibility and human-centered placemaking is also trending. Stations are increasingly viewed as neighborhood assets, not just discrete pieces of a system. That means a more robust look at the bigger picture and the interconnections between these stations and other systems within the city.
What project are you most proud of — or a project that’s been a favorite — and why?
One project I’m especially proud of is the new Springfield–Sangamon County Transportation Center in Springfield, Illinois, which is currently under construction. The project is part of a larger infrastructure effort that relocates freight and passenger rail operations from the Third Street corridor to Tenth Street.
Our project, which began as a relocation of the existing Amtrak station to a site adjacent to the County Courthouse, quickly revealed a much larger opportunity. The new location allowed us to create a true intermodal hub, bringing together Amtrak, the Springfield–Sangamon County Mass Transit District system, Greyhound, and other intercity bus services. Just as importantly, the project introduces an elevated pedestrian bridge that physically reconnects two historically separate parts of the city.
During early planning, and through close collaboration with our client and community groups, we expanded the project and program significantly beyond transportation alone. The final design integrates community gathering spaces, Illinois State Museum exhibit space, a Sangamon County Sports Hall of Fame exhibit, café and an immersive digital sky theater organized around two atrium spaces and a cascading public gathering space.
For me, this project is exciting because it represents what’s possible when infrastructure investment is paired with thoughtful design and meaningful community participation. It demonstrates how transportation facilities can do more than move people.