Peering down a long, dark, empty tunnel from a subway platform while waiting for the train can be agonizing—especially when you’re stuck underground in a drab, dreary station. But the best metro stations not only provide a means to get to your final destination; they transport you to another world through hypnotizing design or beautiful art. We've rounded up the sleekest, best-designed, and sometimes most bizarre subway stations—and with more than 160 metro systems in the world, there were plenty to choose from. Here are our 12 favorites:
Metro Center Station
Harry Weese
Washington, D.C.
Read more about this here.
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Baikonur Metro Station
Almaty, Kazakhstan
See our previous posting about this project here.
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Iidabashi Station
Makoto Sei Wantanabe
Tokyo
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Formosa Boulevard Station
Shin Takamatsu
Taipei, Taiwan
Read more about this project here.
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Cidade Nova Metro Station and Footbridge
JBMC Arquitectura
Rio de Janeiro
Read more about this project in the Architizer database.
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Solna Centrum Station
Anders Aberg and Karl-Olov Bjor
Stockholm
Read more about this project here.
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Westfriedhof Station
Ingo Mauer
Munich
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McCormick-Tribune Campus Center
OMA Chicago
Read more about this project in the Architizer database.
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Khalid Bin Waleed Station
Dubai
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Peel Station
Artwork by Jean-Paul Mousseau
Montréal
Read more about this project here.
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Wave-A-Wall
Acconci Studio
Brooklyn
Read more about this project in the Architizer database.
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Tram and Bus Station in Munich
Perret Maluche Stuke
Munich
Read more about this project in the Architizer database.
This post is part of the GOOD community's 50 Building Blocks of Citizenship—weekly steps to being an active, engaged global citizen. This week: Take Public Transportation. Follow along and join the conversation at good.is/citizenship and on Twitter at #goodcitizen.