Stockholm’s beautiful subways

The most beautiful metro stations in the world are said to be found in Moscow. If Stockholm’s metro stations aren’t the most beautiful they are at least the most interesting. The Stockholm metro system (or “Tunnelbana” as it is known by the Swedes) was opened in 1950 and today consists of 100 stations. What makes it so interesting is not its efficiency or simplicity, but the fact that almost all of the subway stations have been decorated by different artists to give each one a memorable and unique character. For this reason, Stockholm’s subway system may often be referred to as “the longest art gallery in the world”.t

The idea to place art around Stockholm’s subways was started last century, as people believed art should be more accessible to the common people. The high occurrence of art in Stockholm’s subways today shows the realisation of that goal, and makes travelling around underground Stockholm much more enjoyable.

It is of course open to interpretation, but some of Stockholm’s subway art is considered much more impressive than others. In particular, the artwork found in T-centralen, Stadion and Kungstradgarden are very striking and memorable. In this blog post I’ll provide some further information about these, and a few other, stations. If you have the time whilst in Stockholm, I’d really recommend travelling through some of these stations and experiencing this art gallery for yourself.

1. T-centralen:

The central metro station in Stockholm is known as T-centralen and is the only metro station where all three lines (red, green and blue) run through. Running between the platforms of the red/green and blue lines you will travel through a tunnel containing a moving walkway. This walkway is lined with pictures that describe the construction process of T-centralen and the ceilings are painted blue (a design to help soothe commuters on their daily journeys). As you reach the end of the walkway the space widens out before the descent down to the platforms. Here the blue ceiling also contains silhouettes of many people, designed to symbolise and give praise to those who toiled in the construction of the station.

2. Stadion:

Two stops North from T-centralen along the red line is the metro station Stadion. The name of this metro station comes from the stadium above the ground where the Stockholm Olympic Games were held in 1912. Stadion, along with the metro station Tekniska Högskolan, won a prize from the Swedish Association of Architects in 1973 for its beautiful and thought-provoking design.

Stadion is designed in a sky blue colour, with a large rainbow in the central chamber. The colour is meant to remind people that, although they are underground, the skies outside are not so far away. The rainbow also reflects this theme of “outdoors”, and contains the five colours seen in the Olympic rings. A combination of the outdoor and Olympic themes continue throughout the station with pictures of flowers, emblems of football teams and a painted poster from the Olympic games.

3. Tekniska Högskolan:

Built below the Royal Institute of Technology, this metro station has a design and name that refers to the institute above. The design of this metro station incorporates the five classical elements (earth, air, fire, water and the universe) in polygon designs found at each of the corners and the centre of the station. Further features also pays homage to important scientific figures, such as an apple sculpture referencing Isaac Newton and a wing sculpture referencing Leonardo da Vinci.

Another fun feature of this metro station is the fact that the escalator steps are usually illuminated either in rainbow colours or blue and yellow, to represent the Swedish flag.

4. Kungsträdgården:

Probably the most interesting of all Stockholm’s metro stations is Kungsträdgården, the final Eastern station of both blue metro lines.

Kungsträdgården is designed to reflect the history of the park (also “Kungsträdgården”) above, which dates back to the 15^th century and has a rich history including its past proximity to the now destroyed Makalös Palace.

Inside the metro station the floors are coloured red, green and white to reflect the gravel pathways, Baroque gardens and marble statues of the park and destroyed palace above. Some of the marble statues that survived the fire that destroyed the Makalös Palace can also be found around the station.

When Kungsträdgården metro station was first being designed it was planned for one of its entrances to be directly in the park above. However, protest by many local people against the construction of an entrance within the park (which would require any trees to be chopped down), meant that the whole station was shifted to the right. In the metro station you can see these events represented by the trunk of the only tree that was cut down in Kungsträdgården before the plans were changed.

5. Solna Centrum:

Solna Centrum and the metro stations preceding it (towards T-centralen) all have quite a red theme. Solna Centrum depicts a forest underneath a blood-red sky and was designed to encourage against the environmental changes occurring in Sweden at the time of its design (1975). Sweden is, on the whole, a very environmentally conscious country. Perhaps it is art works such as these that help to inspire the Swedish citizens to look after their environment as well as they do.

6. Alby:

In my opinion one of the nicest metro stops is “Alby”, a station towards the Southern end of the number 13 branch of the red line. This metro station reminds one of a mossy cave and is coloured dark green and adorned with flowers and other patterns. Although this metro station doesn’t have a particular political statement, its beautiful interior might be distracting enough to inject some wonder and light-heartedness into people’s mundane commute.

I hope you have enjoyed these descriptions of some of the most beautiful metro stations in Stockholm! Now I urge those of you reading this to go out and experience these and other metro stations for yourself to see which one is your favourite! Even if the deeper message is absent or hard to understand the design of these stations may at least bring a smile to your face. And anyway, isn’t enjoyment the ultimate function of art?

I’d like to reference my sources used to write this article: Expedia’s interactive online tour (http://www.expedia.se/vc/c/konstsparet/en) and joining the “free subway tour” by the company Free Walking Tour Stockholm. I’d recommend both of these sources as a great way to learn additional information about this topic.