Subway, work, sleep and sometimes it's beautiful! Users of Parisian transport have very little opportunity to rave about their daily journey (if we except the station Arts et Métiers on line 11) and yet many countries have made their undergrounds , a place of wonder. Renowned artists, architects and designers have fashioned the quays and corridors of the Naples, Stockhlom, Kiev and Moscow metros to make little jewels on Earth. But like every treasure, it is buried under the ground ... I come back to you on the ten stations that could have made you smile, the idea of leaving your car in the garage every morning ...
1- TOLEDO STATION (NAPLES)
© DR
Inaugurated in 2012, this totally futuristic resort is the work of the Catalan architect, former friend of Salvador Dalí, Oscar Tusquets. The installation was made with small squares of blue and white mosaic that symbolize an ascent to the seventh sky ... with escalators!
2- T-CENTRALEN STATION (STOCKHOLM)
© DR
At 34 meters below the surface, dug into the rock and then coated with concrete, this half blue station, half fresco seems straight out of a cave. It is located in Norrmalm between Sergels torg Square and Vasagatan Street and connects directly to Stockholm Central Station.
3- MAYAKOVSKAYA STATION (MOSCOW)
© DR
Inaugurated in 1938, it is a station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line of the Moscow Metro, named after the Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. On the ceiling, the vaults are nicely decorated with sickle and hammer while the columns are all steel coated. The favorite of the Muscovites, no doubt ...
4- THE MARIENPLATZ STATION (MUNICH)
© DR
Renovated in 2006, Munich's Marienplatz Station is an optional stop at Deutsche Bahn, a station at Stadtwerke München and one of the most important underground stations in the Bavarian city. We are very far from imagining being in a tunnel ... subway!
5- THE FORMOSA BOULEVARD STATION (TAIWAN)
© DR
Opened in September 2008, this sublime metro station in the city of Kaohsiung houses the world's largest glass work, "Dome of light" by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata and its 4,500 glass panels. The dome tells the story of human life through the four elements, Earth, Water, Light and Fire.
6- THE BUND SIGHTSEEING TUNNEL (SHANGHAI)
© DR
Not officially considered a metro, the train ride is still worth the detour! At the rhythm of house music, tourists rush into the train for a unique show of lights made of beams and puppets of all kinds.
7- THE AVTOVO STATION (SAINT PETERSBURG)
© Wikipedia
The Avtovo station is located on line 1 of the Saint Petersburg Metro. Once in the Neoclassical building whose dome and moldings are breathtaking, you land on the docks, lit by chandeliers worthy of a castle ... We do not hurry to enter the train!
8- THE OLAIAS STATION (LISBON)
© DR
Olaias is a Lisbon metro station on the red line. For those who love stained glass and colors, these ceiling design installations by Portuguese artists will flood you with a very invigorating light.
9- THE ZOLOTI VOROTA STATION (KIEV)
© DR
A floor made of granite, chandeliers with candle-shaped bulbs, all in white varnished marble ... Just breathtaking!
10- THE DRASSANES STATION (BARCELONA)
© DR
This beautiful and futuristic metro station is the work of two Spanish architects, Eduardo Gutiérrez Munné and Jordi Fernández Río, founder of the ON-A Arquitectura studio. It's almost like an episode of Star Wars ...