Gorgeous photos of Soviet subway stations

[Clive_T]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/09/25/gorgeous-photos-of-soviet-subw.html

…

[anothernewbbaccount]

Visited Moscow briefly and saw a couple in the flesh, so to speak.

Some of these would have made great sets for certain Harry Potter scenes.

[GulliverFoyle]

[generic_name]

Well, subway stations here in the US have their own “ambiance”, no?

(There’s a scene from some 70’s disaster movie where NYC is hit by a meteor, and the Soviet ambassador is sheltering down in the subway with his US counterpart, says “someday you come to Moscow, see clean subway station!”)

[Jim_Campbell]

I know there are a couple nice stations in New York (I am living there now) and other cities, but just for comparison, here’s a nice capitalist station. LOL (even if you ignore the dirt and broken tiles, the design is pretty dismal. bare concrete with a few white tiles on the pillars.)

[Jim_Campbell]

After living in New York for years I have to say I was impressed the first time I visited DC:

[gracchus]

When I first visited Moscow I put together a little nighttime tour for myself of the best stations. Highly recommended.

@generic_name

(There’s a scene from some 70’s disaster movie where NYC is hit by a meteor, and the Soviet ambassador is sheltering down in the subway with his US counterpart, says “someday you come to Moscow, see clean subway station!”)

The Moscow stations built during Stalin’s reign doubled as bomb shelters, and are deep underground. As I recall the escalator ride can take 2 minutes or more. The stations usually have at least three escalators side by side if one has to be serviced.

[Purplecat]

@Jim_Campbell

but just for comparison, here’s a nice capitalist station.

I heard that one Soviet defector joked about this contrast, saying “Your railway stations are like our toilets, but your toilets are like our railway stations.”

Of Course, other designers have also copied the glories of Moscow’s Metro for their own systems.
Here’s Grant’s Hill in London:

[gfish]

Trotsky was so mad about those in The Revolution Betrayed. I get his point, those resources probably could have been used better. But they’re still so damned awesome!

[FGD135]

Meteor (1979) - IMDb

[leicester]

Excellent, the photographer’s bus stop book is in residence at my neighborhood Russian bar. I’ll keep an eye out to add the subway edition to the bar library…

[hecep]

That’s gorgeous, too… but haven’t barrel vault ceilings been around awhile, like for many hundreds of years?

[Entity447B]

@Purplecat

I heard that one Soviet defector joked about this contrast, saying “Your railway stations are like our toilets, but your toilets are like our railway stations.”

There are three types of municipal facilities which converge on a single aesthetic, in my experience: subway stations, municipal toilets… and municipal swimming pools.