Soviet Metro Stations

Metro Station Uralmash, Yekaterinburg, Russia - cool, strong women.
And are they computers? Image: Christopher Herwig

Anyone interested in Soviet design will love this book. Christopher Herwig - who put together the splendid two-volume series "Soviet Bus Stops" - has  photographed the stations of each Metro network of the former USSR.

Tashkent's glorious subterranean system, the most opulent of all after Moscow and Leningrad, is a reminder that Tashkent was the fourth largest city in the USSR.

It was a hugely important metropolis and a deliberately conceived model for visitors from post-colonial countries, showing the benefits of Soviet-style socialism.

Rather than the straightforward systems of London, Paris or New York, Soviet networks were used as a propaganda artwork―a fusion of sculpture, architecture and art that combined Byzantine, medieval, baroque and constructivist ideas and infused them with the notion that communism would mean a “communal luxury” for all.

Today these astonishing spaces remain the closest realization of a Soviet utopia. 

As well as stunning photography, the book includes a comprehensive essay on the history and designs of Soviet metros by leading British writer Own Hatherley, who writes primarily on architecture, politics and culture.

Here is an extract from the press release : "From extreme marble and chandelier opulence to brutal futuristic minimalist glory, Soviet Metro Stations documents this wealth of diverse architecture. Along the way Herwig captures the elements that make up this singular Soviet experience: neon, concrete, escalators, signage, mosaics and relief sculptures all combine to build a vivid map of the Soviet Metro".

Published by innovative London-based design and publishing house, FUEL, this is a book to treasure. And to give to friends who dig Soviet style.

More images below.

Related posts:
Uzbekistan's Secret Underground
Soviet Asia: Soviet Modernist Architecture in Central Asia 
Almaty, Kazakhstan - Riding the New Metro
Holidays in Soviet Sanatoriums 
Azerbaijan: Baku's Metro
Kyrgyzstan's Bus Stops
Back in the USSR: Soviet Roadside Architecture

Entrance to Minsk metro station Kastryčnickaja, Belarussia. Image: Christopher Herwig

 

Prospekt Bolshevikov Metro Station, St.Petersburg, Russia. Image: Christopher Herwig

Shuliavska Metro, Kiev, Ukraine. Image: Christopher Herwig

Olmazor metro, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Image: Christopher Herwig

⁠Metro station Prospekt Kosmonavtov, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Image: Christopher Herwig