Known as the world’s longest art exhibit, the Stockholm Metro has many beautiful and artsy stations. It is 110 kilometers long. The metro line has a little more than 100 stops and almost all of them have some art installation and are decorated according to a theme. The first station of the Stockholm metro, ”Stockholms tunnelbana” in Swedish, was opened in 1950 and extended over time.
Here are some of the best stations from the Stockholm Metro:
Odenplan Station
Odenplan catches the eye with the white fluorescent installations added by David Svensson. The 400 meters of LED lights were inspired by the heartbeats of the artist’s son shown on the CTG, a method showing the heartbeats during pregnancy and childbirth.
T-Centralen Station
T-Centralen was opened in 1957 and was the first station to feature artwork. Also known as ”the Blue Platform”, T-Centralen was created by the artist Per Olof Ultvedt and is one of the best-known and busiest stations in Stockholm.
Stadion Station
Stadion, with its vivid colors and rainbow, is one of the first cave stations in Stockholm and was built in 1973. The station gets its name after Stockholm’s Olympic Stadium. Artists Åke Pallarp and Enno Hallek wanted to remind passengers of the importance of the Stadium’s significance in sports history as the 1912 Olympics were held there. It still regularly hosts sports events and concerts.
Rådhuset Station
Rådhuset Station was opened in 1975. The artist of the station is Sigvard Olson. Like some of the other stations, the organic architecture was used here as well. The bedrock is exposed and gives the impression of an actual cave.
Universitetet Station
The University station is close to Stockholm University and the Museum of Natural History. It was opened in 1975. Created by the artist Françoise Schein, the art on the station consists of tiles featuring lines from the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights and quotes from Carl von Linné.
Tekniska Högskolan Station
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, the Royal Institute of Technology, was founded in 1827 and got its metro station in 1973. The station’s decor, created by Lennart Mörk, celebrates scientific advances, technology, the laws of nature, etc. The station is full of quotations from famous events in science history and representation of scientific and mathematical formulas/equations etc. The most famous piece is probably the five regular polyhedra which represents Plato’s five elements.
The station was awarded with Kasper Salin Prize in 1973.
Kungsträdgården Station
Kungsträdgården, translated as ”Royal Garden” or ”The King’s Garden”, was opened in 1977. The station is a representation of the old French garden above. Kungsträdgården is one of Stockholm’s oldest public parks. Almost everything in the station represents the qualities of the site above the ground with its colors and drawings. Also, uniquely, the station is the only place in Northern Europe where the cave-dwelling spider (Lessertia dentichelis) can be found. The station is also the deepest of the Stockholm metro lines.
