In cities throughout the world, we use public transportation every day, but we don’t often look around at the subway, bus, and train stations as we pass through them. If we did, we might find some very attractive public spaces that are worth more than a quick glance. London, over the years, has attempted to make its Underground Stations into works of art, be it the original Victorian design stations or newer stops such as Canary Wharf. We’ve outlined ten of the most attractive Tube stations for you to visit on your next trip to London and marvel at their brilliance.
Gloucester Rd
On the outside, the Gloucester Rd Tube Station is already a work of art thanks to the classic red-tilled design of architect Leslie Green. Inside the station, there was nothing remarkable until its disused eastbound station was turned into a temporary art gallery in 2000. The space is now so popular that it’s often used for special events.
Westminster
Brutalism can get a pretty bad rap as an architectural style, considering it’s just geometrical concrete, but sometimes it can produce some really lovely designs, such as the Westminster Underground Station. The mix of stone columns and metal pipes creates a clean, industrial look that contrasts with intricately designed buildings above, yet still feels like it fits in.
Canary Wharf
Perhaps one of the most postmodern-looking Underground Stations on this list, Canary Wharf appears so futuristic that it was actually used as a movie set in the Star Wars movie Rogue One as an Imperial base (albeit with some dressing up). The escalators at the entrance are worthy enough on their own, but once you get down into the bowels of the station, you’ll find the subsurface architecture just as fascinating.
Gants Hill
In the 1930s, architect Charles Holden was inspired by the Moscow Metro in the creation of the Gants Hill Underground Station. The concourse actually has no above-surface buildings and uses pedestrian walkways to take you to the ticket station and then escalators down to the barrel-vaulted train platforms.
Earl’s Court
Earl’s Court is another tube station bathed in natural light thanks to a steel-framed skylight. The Underground platforms themselves have that classic white tiling you’ll see throughout older Tube stations. The outside is also notable for being home to London’s only remaining Police Public Call Box, though don’t knock on the outside expecting the Doctor to open the door.
Kings Cross St. Pancras
Kings Cross St. Pancras is one of the most important stations not only in London but all of the United Kingdom since it serves both the London Underground and National Rail. As such, the station’s design is suitably impressive, combining the original Victorian architecture with more modern designs, evident by both the large vaulted steel skylight on the train platforms of St. Pancras and the Kings Cross Station entrance.
Baker Street
The Baker Street Underground Station is definitely the place for Sherlock Holmes fans. Not only is it close to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, which is set up as a recreation of his fictional 221B Baker Street flat, but the Tube station walls are lined with tiles that feature his silhouette with iconic pipe and deerstalker cap. The arching brick roof on the train platform is also pretty beautiful and doesn’t exist in many other places in the Underground.
Tottenham Court Road
The Tottenham Court Road station is an interesting mixture of the old and the new. In the 1980s, Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi designed over 1,000 square meters of tiled mosaics throughout the station. When the station was expanded for Crossrail, some of the mosaics were taken out and replaced with clean white tiles, though 95% of Paolozzi’s mosaics still remain in the station. Don’t worry, though, as the other 5% were restored and tour the UK as an art exhibit.
Leytonstone
And while we’re on the subject of tiled mosaics, you can find some pretty gorgeous ones that pay homage to one of the area’s most famous residents. In 1999, seventeen mosaics went up throughout the station dedicated to director Alfred Hitchcock. Created one hundred years after Hitchcock’s birth, they feature important scenes from many of his movies from The Birds to North by Northwest.
Southwark
Southwark Tube Station’s design is akin to a dystopian future movie with stark shite stone, gleaming metal, and bold shapes throughout. No matter what level you’re on, it feels like you’re in a different time and place whenever you travel through the station. Fritz Lang would probably feel right at home here if he was still around.
Author: John Rabon
John is a regular writer for Anglotopia and its sister websites. He is currently engaged in finding a way to move books slightly to the left without the embarrassment of being walked in on by Eddie Izzard. For any comments, questions, or complaints, please contact the Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson's haircut.