Commuting
every day, we rarely even notice the surrounding. Bus stops or stations are
transparent to us as we are absorbed in thoughts or focused on smartphones.
Disorder or vandalism catches our attention but few people admire construction
or design. Is there anything to admire, anyway? Spending time looking
at walls or enjoying “travel” on an escalator sounds ridiculous in Poland, but
in Moscow visiting underground stations is a pleasure. Some of them are decorated
like chambers and do not resemble a public place.
Picture 1.Taganskaya
Metro Station. Photo by David Burdeny.
Source: https://www.boredpanda.com/moscow-metro-station-architecture-russia-bright-future-david-burdeny/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
Source: https://www.boredpanda.com/moscow-metro-station-architecture-russia-bright-future-david-burdeny/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
Picture 2. Arbatskaya
Metro Station. Photo by David Burdeny.
Source: https://www.boredpanda.com/moscow-metro-station-architecture-russia-bright-future-david-burdeny/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
Source: https://www.boredpanda.com/moscow-metro-station-architecture-russia-bright-future-david-burdeny/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
Building the
Moscow Metro was planned from 1875, but it began in 1931 after a gridlock
totally blocked traffic. Metro was opened in 1935 with 13 stations built at a deep
level to avoid digging up the city. In consequence, they came into being long,
amazing escalators, that takes you for an exciting journey.
At the
beginning there is the longest escalator, but I encourage you to watch the whole
video.
The design and
decoration of stations differ. It depends on time when they appeared. First,
stations were built under the banner “Palace for the people” and it is
noticeable both inside and outside those solemn buildings.
Picture 3.
Arbatskaya station opened in 1935. Photo by Alex Florstein Fedorov.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbatskaya_(Filyovskaya_line)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbatskaya_(Filyovskaya_line)
There were
designed 12 unique stations with sculptures and murals after the war, but in the
late fifties individual design disappeared due to cost cutting. Buildings from
that period are described as simpler and standard, although interiors were
still elegant and hardly compared with today’s concept of simplicity.
Picture 4.
“Simpler look” of Sportivnaya station
opened in 1957.
Photo by Alex Florstein Fedorov.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportivnaya_(Moscow_Metro)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportivnaya_(Moscow_Metro)
Time was
passing, but the original idea of interiors was kept. Even later stations were
built in the 1930’s style and were full of stone and individual decorations.
The modern approach was rather seen outside, where stone was replaced by glass,
so in the 1960s Moscow Metro gained some buildings typical for that time.
Picture 5. Taganskaya Metro Station opened in 1966.
Source: http://www.metro.ru/stations/tagansko-krasnopresnenskaya/taganskaya/
Source: http://www.metro.ru/stations/tagansko-krasnopresnenskaya/taganskaya/
Although nowadays metro designers still attach
importance to appearance of stations, the previous magnificence and richness
disappeared. We can watch play of lights reflected in glass, metal or stone which
is also impressive, but don’t attract me so much.
Picture 6.
Fonbizinskaya Metro Station opened in 2017.
Source: https://www.mos.ru/en/news/item/28604073/
Source: https://www.mos.ru/en/news/item/28604073/
During nearly 90 years of Moscow Metro there were built over 200
stations, each with individual design and atmosphere. Originators wanted to
give people something more than just a place to change a train. I really like
that idea and feel much better in places with good design and decoration than the
ones that just fulfil its function. What about you?
What do you think about decorating public places in
such a way? Is design as important as function of the buildings?
Would you pay attention to design while decorating
your house or flat? Would you buy furniture or other devices just because they
are beautiful and original but inconvenient or uncomfortable to use?
If you would like to see more photos: https://vagrantsoftheworld.com/moscow-metro-stations/
Subway around the world: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-of-the-world-s-most-interesting-subway-stations.html
Sources (access 18.10.2018)
https://vagrantsoftheworld.com/moscow-metro-stations/
Photos:
I think these metro stations are beautiful. I would gladly visit Moscow to take the metro. The only thing that worries me is that people may not respect such a places and destroy it, which unfortunately happens too often in public places.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea to design public spaces with an original and ingenious idea. This can be combined with functionality and beautiful design. I also think that decorating a public place will attract more people including tourists.
As for the decoration of my apartment, I focus on functionality. Unfortunately, once I made a mistake and bought a high-gloss coffee table, which was beautiful. After several uses, scratches appeared on it and after some time it landed in the trash.
Nice to read that you also like the stations. I visited Moscow some years ago and what astonished me was that there weren’t to many destructions especially in the central stations. I hope you will have a chance to visit the city, because it’s really beautiful. Not only Moscow Metro, but other places are also impressive.
DeleteStory with a table happened to me too. My table still stands in my flat, but has tablecloth on it all the time.
I am really fond of beautiful architectural design. I always dreamed of cities be more designed to be friendly to people. I hope some day it will happen and cities will be full of plants, grass and trees, and wild animals also, and beautiful architectural structures, not only grey simple buildings. I think it is very important and I do not know why we as a civilization lost this ability to make many beautiful things. Yet hundred years ago buildings, even street lamps, were made in spectacular way, but today they are simple grey things spoiling any view. I think a visual design is also very important, maybe not as functional design, but aesthetic qualities affect on our psychic and mood and these are very, very important, and often underestimated.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely decorate my house or flat. I do it now. It is very important aspect for me because, as I mentioned already, it affects my mood everyday. Though I rather wouldn't buy a thing only because it looks nice, but would be inconvenient or uncomfortable to use (unless the level of inconvenience wouldn't be to big and the appearance of the furniture or device would be worth it ;)).
Do you really think that we lost ability to produce beauty? I believe we don’t. Maybe the concept of beauty has changed? Interesting buildings, places were always built for rich people and paid by rich people not for the masses. You can buy adorable things, but there are produced on a small scale and are more expensive. I agree that cities should be more friendly, but it is always a compromise. If you have many green areas you don’t have a business areas or places to live. If there is a big park in the centre some people are happy because they have place to rest, but some are angry because getting from central railway station to, for example, business district takes hours. In some cities there are separate areas for living, working etc., but still in consequence in business area there are only sky scrapers and no places to rest. However it would be nice to find solution for everybody.
DeleteWow it looked amazing. I heard that Moscow had nice metro but this is better I could ever imagine. I it obviously really excessive, rich in design and unique. I don't think it's too much, rather the opposite. It can definitely boost your mood and make travelling slightly less boring.
ReplyDeleteI hope there are easy to use and functional. I prefer usability over crazy design. Of course I do't buy things only for their aesthetic, they need to provide special value in my life.
The book I really recommend about things, design and usability all in once is called The Language of Things by Deyan Sudjic. Great read if you want to find balance between those things or appreciate small things in design.
Going back to question about public places, yes I think they should be special memorable and stunning as long as they are not useless.
Moscow Metro is one of the most punctual and convenient. The stations are close to each other and, because there are plenty of lines, you can get nearly everywhere not going out on the surface. I really appreciate it while visiting Moscow several years ago and today there are many more stations than when I was there.
Delete“The Language of Things” stands on my bookcase 😊. I found there a new way of thinking about things. Next on my list is “Home. The Short History of an Idea”, it is more about architecture than design as I heard, maybe it would be interesting for you too.
At first glance, the stations look remarkable but overall I think the decorations and design could be overwhelming in unpleasant manner. Palace of Culture and Science could be a good parallel. It looks monumental and it's iconic building of Warsaw but still many people find it ugly because of it's Socialist realism architectural style which Moscow Metro also represents.
ReplyDeleteDecorating your home is an important factor for our well-being and I do that aswell. However, decorating public place such as metro station in the way it's done in Moscow resembles me of hanging Mona Lisa in a bathroom-it's just too much.
I agree with Bartosz, that's too much!
DeleteIt must be very expensive. I believe that there are many more important things that money could be spent on. Renovation of hospitals, orphanages ... I think most of you will agree with me.
Thank you for your comment Bartosz. It is a different point of view and induced me to think the issue over again. For sure this style was an element of propaganda and it may cause mixed feelings or even negative. Although some people would be delighted to have Mona Lisa in their bathroom even if it would have political conections .
ReplyDeleteMoscow metro stations are trully amazing. I think it is really important to make our every day surroundings look nice and clean. Thing that surround us affect our mood as much as people does.
ReplyDeleteI know that I need a clean and organized room before I can start learning. I can't do it when there is mess around me.
People use metro every day to go to work and if they can enjoy that ride they will be much happier - I would be.
I think that design is as much important as functionality but I would not buy something just becouse it is nice looking.
It is always matter of combinig functionality with desing and then the final product is perfect.
Yes, surroundings affects us more than we realize, but not only clean look, but functionality and how much effort do we need to use it and use things around us. However some people claim that they feel better in a mess. Personally I also prefer to have my space ordered, but in urgent situations I can sit backwards to distractions and ignore them
DeleteFrom the photos, Moscow metro stations are indeed amazingly stunning - however I am not sure whether people can fully appreciate its beauty as it is normally overhelmingly crowded (about 9 millions of passengers travel via Moscow metro on a daily basis) - to do some sightseeing, better to visit Moscow Metro outside rush hours.
ReplyDeleteProbably Moscow inhabitants don’t admire stations, because they are used to it, but tourists have more time and even crowds wouldn’t disturb them and fortunately we have plenty of nice photos in internet without people on it.
DeleteAfter reading a title my first impression was, how can anybody be so interested in Moscow metro stations? What can be so unusual about metro station? Then I looked on photos, watched the whole video and changed my mind entirely.
ReplyDeleteI really pay attention to design and appearence of an interior. Whenever I am inside some bad looking room I don't feel comfortable. In Poland, most of public places are rather sloppy. Designes are mostly focused on functionality rather than esthetic aspects. However, we begin to see more and more initiatives that are changing our surroundings. I am already planning how my flat will look like, what colors and materials will be used etc. I prefer to avoid buying stuff which has only decorative function, but unfortunately (for my wallet) my girlfriend has quite the opposite view ;)
I'm glad that I surprised you. I wanted to present theme which may be new for some people not only my thoughts about something.
DeleteTotally agree here. I've been not aware how beautiful Moscow's Metro stations are. It's really nice that some of us want to share his( or even her! ;)) interests in this beauty of art! I would really appreciate the possibility of seeing this with my own eyes and I hope that one day I'll visit few of this stations!
DeleteI think that this type of investment is amazing. It let you escape from the reality for a moment while your waiting on the train. At the same time it is very expensive. If we talk about Moscow metro, I think Russia is great example country which for obvious reasons can afford on this type on investment. Probably the cost of building one subway station in Moscow metro is greater than building the whole subway section in the Warsaw
ReplyDeleteDecorating public places at this way is pretty but we as a 'Poland' aren't ready both financially and mentally yet. But if I would have to choose between "500+ on a second dog" and metro station like Moscow metro I definetly choose the latter.
I have children, no dogs and I think that it should be NO 500+, but I feel offended reading that 500+ is for second dog.
DeleteI'm sorry If you are offended but it's a little misunderstanding. When I wrote "500 plus on a second dog" I wasn't thinking about children xD. I mean, nowadays there is a lot of different additives like, 500 plus on second children or 300 plus for school books and If I would have to choose between next addivities (which I think isn't good solution) I would definitely choose something else (Metro like that in Moscow)
DeleteSo we agree: no additives, there is a better way to spend public money.
DeleteThis article shows that everything could be an art. Even metro station in Russia :) To protect this art there should be cooperation between the government of the city and citizens. In my opinion the most important thing is consciousness that above all, we all should care about it. From time to time I’m visiting some cities in Europe and I can compare how it looks in different places. For example, metro in Paris Is old, dirty and dangerous. More less the same situation is in Brussel. It’s only my notion but I think that our Warsaw metro is one of the prettiest in Europe :) is also clean and have interesting architecture. And what is nice, our citizens in majority care about cleanliness. I hope that the new – second line will have attractive and colorful stations. I know that won’t be anything similar like in Moscow but still better than in other European cities :)
ReplyDeleteI didn’t think about it earlier, but you are right, that our metro is very clean. Complaining about dirt and vandalism in Poland, we should remind your remark.
DeleteFirst of all, thank you for the post Małgorzata, I have never been to Moscow, so it's great to take a peek at what it looks like! Truly appreciate it! I believe that everything depends on the purpose of a particular space. Design, should not only look at the aesthetics of a particular object / space / building but should take a deep look into the way people interact with it (it interacts with them) and how it's purpose is being realized through their design. Therefore, from my perspective there is a couple of principles that we should take into account and here is the list of priorities for me:
ReplyDelete1. The design should be functional, meaning the first and foremost consideration for design is the objects function and the ability to realize it - in our example it would be the Metro itself: does its capacity allow enough people to go in, are the walkways created to shorten, or extend the walk for the people? Does it allow for enough infographics so that people are not feeling lost. Is there enough space on the platforms to get in and out, etc. etc.
2. Once function has been sufficiently covered, the next step would be to consider how the design can influence the people, how does it make them feel, how does it affect their behaviour - i.e., will making it look like a palace hallway change the mindset of the people and there will be less vandalism? Will people be nicer to each other, considering they are in a more rich environment? Will it make them happy?
3. Once that is out of the way, so we know the space will take care of the function, we also know how we want to make people feel, we can finally think about how it actually looks. There are some considerations that you would've already taken into account at point 2, however here is where you can actually indulge your inner artist and think about total freedom of your expression (without sacrificing any of the above two points).
So ultimately, I am fine with just having the most basic amenities in places that are built for a practical purpose. But I love the holistic view and making practical things that also make me wonder, or any mix of the two, like a park, where not only you feel good and can walk the dog, or meet the friends, but that also has a specific shape that reflects something, that has sculptures, or grafitti spaces, or allows expression through speed, sound, movement, pictures, light etc.
Anyway, great post and it's always great to think how we are interacting with specific designs and whether or not it is fit for purpose.
Talking about first point, I thing that Moscow Metro fulfil it entirely or fulfilled it when I was there (several years ago). Enough to say that coming from smaller town (Moscow has 13 million people, so every city in Poland is small when we compare) I had no problems with travelling, although I didn’t know Russian. I also don’t remember crowds, but I was a tourist, so my point of view was different.
DeleteSecond point is interesting, but I think it is really hard to say how design will influence people. However there are some psychological researches trying to explain it, or rather find answer to a question how architecture influence us.
It always takes some compromise to balance between aesthetics and usability (and price as well). As main purpose of decorations is aesthetic one when we consider furniture and other household appliances it shifts more to usability. When I buy a fridge, for instance, it only needs to match into my kitchen and other parameters are much more important than how it looks like.
ReplyDeletePublic space arrangement is bound to same rules. Main goal is it should be usefull to people, however how it looks is also important and it depends on main purpose of this location. I'm sure if going everyday into Fonbizinskaya Metro Station wouldn't be too much overwhelming with it's futuristic looks. Might be fun for some time but what after a year? Or five years?
ReplyDeleteYeah, the whole USSR architecture has its own, very strong style. Even when I was in Georgia, the stations looked very Russian (Georgia was a part of USSR back in the days.). This style for me is cold, very brutal, but it catches the eye :) I think that our Warsaw metro lines, especially the second one, look great. They are designed in the way that every station corresponds to the venue on the surface, f.e station Stadion Narodowy has many green elements, that look like grass, or football field. I think it's a great idea to decorate public places, but only by true artists, not the so called ones. Design is important because it influences how do you feel about the building, if you want to enter it or not. So it can be also a nice marketing trick (f.e Krzywy Dom in Sopot). Of course I would pay attention to the desing while decorating my flat, I actually very enjoy that activity. It's always good to feel that you are coming back to the house where you feel good. I think it's the most important part of living in own house, to make it the way you like.
I wouldn't buy furniture or other devices just because they are beautiful and original but inconvenient or uncomfortable, in my opinion if it's a furniture it should look good and be convinient, same applies to other devices
Personally, I would like to live in a place where streets, buildings or places connected with public transport would look eye-friendly. However, it is important to remember that these beautiful projects should be useful above all. As for decorating my own house I think it is a completely different matter because I do it with my own money. Private furnitures are meant to serve it's owners, not all citizens. And while decorations to my house must be aesthetically pleasing than there is no way that I would buy something that is inconvenient to use just because it's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think that this type of architecture is very important not only for Moscow or Russia, but also for our world and the history.
ReplyDeleteIt delights many generations and is a showcase that will stay for a long time. From the other hand it is very expensive therefore it is really important to save money for other objects that have to be renewed or build.
Thanks for this post. It's always nice to see someone appreciating a good commercial art. Trend of making everyday places feel spacial comes and goes and I feel like now we're at a peak of its wave. Needles to say we're lucky. In Warsaw there's more and more everyday places that look and feel at least nice. Of course I could live without it, but with all those good looking things there's a chance that some bad day will get a little better for me or anyone else. I'd assume the subway in Moscow does the same.
ReplyDeleteI think that we are slowly, but surely moving in the same direction, we started to care also about apperance of buildings, stations etc. It will take few years to deal with all that grayish communism stuff, but we should be able to do that!
ReplyDelete