12 Beautiful Metro Stations That Transport You to Another World

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:

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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.