Shanghai’s deepest metro station is located in the tourist heart of the city. It received its modern appearance two years ago, after a large-scale restoration. Designers and architects from New York were inspired by the contours of the Huangpu River, flowing above the subway, and designed the vaults in a “water” style.
According to the authors, the appearance of the Yuyuan Garden reflects the openness and cosmopolitan spirit of Shanghai: the curves of traditional Chinese cornices here are in harmony with the geometric shapes of Western arcades. And when the lighting turns on under the ceiling, the station turns into a full-fledged art object.
2. “City Hall”, New York
“City Hall”, New York / (Image credit: architectuul.com)
The fate of the station is as unfair as its interior is beautiful. City Hall, opened in 1904, was to become the crown jewel of the metro. The city hall is located directly above it, so the station was decorated with special care. The platform was decorated in the then fashionable American Art Deco style. Horn chandeliers, skylights, stained glass windows and tiles – all this still looks too rich for the utilitarian New York subway.
But the city grew, and over time the curved platform no longer met the new standards of passenger trains. Therefore, the station was closed in 1945. Now you can see the abandoned beauty if you hide from the subway workers and take the No. 6 train along the Lexington Avenue line beyond the terminus – it will make a loop through City Hall. More legitimate ways are to take a tour from the New York Transportation Museum or watch the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Some scenes were filmed directly on the City Hall platform.
3. “Mayakovskaya”, Moscow
“Mayakovskaya”, Moscow / (Image credit: stock.adobe.com/ARTHIT KAEORATANAPATTAMA)
Muscovites love Mayakovka so much that in recent years it has received the titles of both the most beautiful and the most romantic station. Even now it looks quite futuristic, although it was opened 86 years ago – the design was ahead of its time. It’s as if classicism and high-tech were mixed here, which did not yet exist during the construction of Mayakovskaya. Thanks to this, the architectural project, unique for its times, received recognition even before its opening – in 1937 the station was celebrated at the World Exhibition in Paris. And two years later, the object received the Grand Prix at the international exhibition in New York.
4. “Westfriedhof”, Munich
“Westfriedhof”, Munich / (Image credit: Martin Falbisoner)
This station is an example of how one detail can change everything. Westfriedhof opened in 1998, and at that time it didn’t stand out as anything special—it turned out to be a typical gray metro station.
But two years later, 11 huge lamps with red, yellow and blue lamps were installed here. The walls were also illuminated in blue-violet. It turned out so conceptual and mysterious that Westfriedhof is regularly used by advertising agencies for photo shoots. In 2010, the station’s interior also graced the cover of the album of the British band The Haggis Horns.
5. “Toledo”, Naples
“Toledo”, Naples / (Image credit: Giannis Papanikos/Shutterstock)
Playing with shapes, well-arranged light and an incredible amount of white and blue mosaics create for passengers the effect of immersion either in the underwater world or in the snowy kingdom. Toledo received its modern look thanks to the Stazioni dell’arte (“Art Stations”) program for the construction and renovation of the city’s metro stations, when world-famous designers and architects took up the design of the Naples subway.
The renovated station opened in 2013 and immediately received the prestigious LEAF architectural award for the best public building of the year. Since then, Toledo has regularly topped the lists of the most beautiful and impressive metro sites in the world.
6. “Solna-Centrum”, Stockholm
“Solna-Centrum”, Stockholm / (Image credit: irantours24.com)
It also constantly appears in ratings of the most beautiful metro stations. Perhaps the most impressive fact about Solna Centrum and other Stockholm metro blue line stations is their location. In the mid-70s, designers literally cut a branch out of the rock and, instead of enclosing the tunnel, left the rock exposed, making it part of the interior of the platforms.
Solna-Centrum is painted in bright colors: red symbolizes the setting sun, and green symbolizes the forest. They are complemented by paintings that illustrate the important social problems of Sweden in the 70s: deteriorating ecology, deforestation and depopulation of the countryside.
7. “Formosa Boulevard”, Kaohsiung
“Formosa Boulevard”, Kaohsiung / (Image credit: tripadvisor.co.uk)
The station was opened in 2009, right before the start of the World Games held in Taiwan. It has become an important tourist attraction thanks to its Dome of Light, the largest glass art installation. The huge circle, 30 meters in diameter, is made up of more than 4,000 stained glass panels that symbolize water, fire, earth and air. “Formosa Boulevard” constantly appears in various ratings. For example, in 2014, the CNN Travel portal included the facility in the list of the most beautiful metro stations in the world.
8. “Notting Hill Gate”, London
“Notting Hill Gate”, London / (Image credit: Vicky Jirayu/Shutterstock)
Even the British media freely admit that the definition of “beautiful” does not apply to most of the interiors of the London Underground. However, Notting Hill Gate is one of the few exception stations.
On sunny days, the platforms of one of the oldest metro stations in the country are flooded with bright light. And looking across the tracks, passengers can appreciate the incredible symmetry of lines and architecture. Notting Hill Gate has been around for over 150 years, and of course the station has been rebuilt and updated since it opened. But it seems that the atmosphere and spirit of old London have been preserved here.
