Metro is also art: 5 surprising stations around the world
When I made a post about the video game subway, in Stockholm, I discovered the Metro Bits website, which is dedicated to studying subways around the world. Very interesting, with lots of information about the architecture, technology, maps, statistics and even the archeology involved in the excavations.
I always take pictures in the subway stations of the cities I visit, especially in places that have stations so full of character, like the subways in Russia (which look like palaces) and the subways in Germany (which look like futuristic scenarios!). It’s a little embarrassing, because everyone passing by is staring, but I think this is an urban aspect that tells a bit of the history of each place 🙂
Metro Bits made a selection of the 50 most beautiful subways in the world – and, with that, my list of travel destinations has just grown a bit longer. Take a look at these stations:
1. Moscow
Under the Soviet regime, Moscow metro stations were imagined as “palaces for the people”. Komsomolskaya, like many others, has marble walls and luxurious chandeliers.
2. Kiev
The Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate) station in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, was inaugurated at the end of the Cold War, after the fall of the Berlin wall… Even so, it displays the Soviet heritage of the period in which it was being built.
3. Kaohsiung
https://www.flickr.com/photos/yting9/16059833373/
In Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second largest city, the immense and illuminated installation by the American designer Narcissus Quagliata decorates the Formosa Boulevard Station.
4. Munich
In Munich, in the south of Germany, the Westfriedhof station is a concrete box with lighting signed by Ingo Maurer – a German designer who makes incredibly creative chandeliers. It was one of the stations chosen by photographer Micha Pawlitzki for his book Under Grund, about German subways.
5.Toronto
Toronto stations are very similar to each other, but the “Arts on Track” project has incorporated some super interesting pieces. In 2002, Canadian artist Panya Clark created optical illusions at Bayview Station on the Sheppard Line. I found the best!
no world all
Many cities have adopted the idea of exhibiting works of art in corridors and platforms – in addition to Toronto, New York, Brussels, Stockholm and Athens are also examples. Rio de Janeiro is on the list with the Cardeal Arcoverde station, in Copacabana.
Check out other posts about subways around the world here on the blog (yes, we are passionate people ♥) and also discover the transport museums listed by Metro Bits in over 30 cities in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
