Tour the subterranean palaces of the Moscow Metro
Unexpected design delights
City Map publisher Blue Crow has headed to Russian capital for its latest architectural guide, leading us around the grand chambers of the Moscow Metro system. Its beautifully-designed ‘subterranean palaces’ were originally created to showcase the might, power and artistic prowess of the Soviet Union. Today the stations are appreciated for their iconic designs by tourists and city dwellers alike.
Here, we pick seven of the best ‘people’s palaces’ across the underground system.
Taking its cues from the highly-decorative stylings of the baroque aesthetic, the 1952 station has a setting fit for royalty. With marble pillars and arched yellow stucco ceilings with plasterwork flourishes, gilded bas-reliefs and circular chandeliers, there are few transport hubs that can rival its old-school opulence. It features a dramatic tin glazed Majolica mural that depicts the early construction of the Moscow Metro, according to Nikolai Vassiliev, the architectural historian who has curated the map. Photography: Alexey Narodizkiy for Blue Crow MediaFonvizinskaya Station
The design of this newly-constructed station plays with light and reflections to create a striking, abstract setting. The curved tunnel and lighting design in the station hall reflects onto the highly polished stone floor, creating the illusion of glowing concentric circles. Devoid of figurative imagery, with a stark white and grey colour palette, the two-year-old station hall looks straight of a modern sci-fi film. Photography: Alexey Narodizkiy for Blue Crow MediaMayakovskaya Station
Chic, restrained and radically modern when it was completed in 1938, Mayakovskaya station is a celebrated example of Stalinist art deco architecture. It even won the Grand Prix for Architecture at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The three-vaulted station contains arches inlaid with steel ribbons – originally intended for a nearby Zeppelin factory – and 34 oval ceiling niches featuring lighting fixtures and smalti mosaics. From factory chimneys to paratroopers, the romantic flight-themed ceiling mosaics display the sky over 24 hours across the Land of the Soviets, according to Blue Crow’s Vassiliev. Photography: Alexey Narodizkiy for Blue Crow MediaElektrozavodskaya Station
One of the network system’s most spectacular stations, this 1944-designed building was named after a nearby eclectic light bulb factory thanks to its barrel ceiling, featuring six rows of more than 300 circular incandescent inset lamps, resembling the lights in an operating theatre. The station’s hexagonal entrance pavilion is decorated with portrait medallions of pioneers in electricity engineering and a ‘Metro Construction Workers’ sculpture stands proudly outside the entrance pavilion. Photography: Alexey Narodizkiy for Blue Crow MediaAviamotornaya Station
The hall of this aviation and flight-themed station has a metal ceiling made from anodised gold tetrahedrons, which bathes the space in a warm, golden light. The floor is covered marble while the rear wall of the hall features a dazzling polished-steel sculpture of Icarus. Photography: Alexey Narodizkiy for Blue Crow MediaArbatskaya Station
You can’t fail to miss the quirky entrance pavilion of this station, built in the shape of the Soviet star and painted in terracotta with the words ‘Metro’ written on each of its five stucco elevations. Featuring utilitarian and folk-art influences, the 1935 station was one of the original Metro stations and its pentagonal, five-tiered structure supports a dome visible from within while the chandelier-laden platform level comes with the standard three halls. Photography: Alexey Narodizkiy for Blue Crow MediaMedvedkovo Station
The hall of the 1978 Medvedkovo station features post-modern-style flared pillars, made from marble and lined with strips of stainless steel. A muted colour palette complements the eight anodized aluminium bas-relief wall panels, which depict austere northern Russian landscapes. Photography: Nikolai Vassiliev for Blue Crow Media1 of 7
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