Since arriving in Moscow, I have developed an unhealthy obsession with the metro. In part, it is because I spend at least an hour a day manoeuvring through its crowded trains, vast halls, and dizzyingly long escalators. But he Moscow metro is not only quick (all trains run every ninety seconds) and clean (for a subway)--it is beautiful. Sounds strange, I know, but the metro stations of Moscow are each impressive and stunning architectural works of art in their own right. In most cities the metro system is functional, at best. But Moscow’s system--the second busiest in the world--is a masterpiece. When the city you live in is more than ten times the size of Paris, and when you have to cross it sometimes three times a day for work (gotta love my Tuesdays), your passage is made all the more worthwhile by the beautiful stations that await you at each stop.
So this series of posts will be my little ode to everyday Russian commuting, and will include a little history and art lesson for those of you who are interested. For those of you who read this blog solely for condom chat, double-entendres, and tales of my incompetence, don’t worry, I’ll still be posting my usual smart-assy thoughts on a regular basis.
The stations are not all fantastically lit, and as a result, the pictures will never do justice to Moscow public transport. But I’ll do my best to capture what I can. When I can’t I’ll use pictures from some real photographers.
To prime you all, a little history lesson on Soviet grandeur I like to entitle:
Why Stalin Probably had a Very Small Penis
Centralised funding meant that Josef Stalin was able to pour nearly unlimited funds into his construction of the Moscow subway system . And he did. While the need for a rapid transit system for Moscow was originally conceived of after the turn of the century, during the reign of Czar Nicholas II, it’s constuction was postponed because of one extremely bloody little revolution, a nagging civil war and a big to-do known as the First World War. But once everybody was done killing each other (publicly), rapid transit was once again a major concern for Moscow’s fast-growing but slow-moving population.
As the often doubted Communist political system was unveiled after the revolution of 1916 it strived to show the world that it was the greatest, most impressive and capable system in existence. The best way to this? Why by building big, expensive, fancy shit, of course. It lets people know who’s boss. But Stalin wanted to prove that everything in Russia was grand, as well as to show that beauty, like money and power (cough, cough) should be evenly distributed amongst this new nation of equals.
And so began the massive undertaking of the Moscow Metro system, for which the construction of a simple station was transformed into the construction of an underground, working man’s palace. Noted artists and architects were brought in to render each station a unique magnum opus, with no central theme other than that of opulence (and Communism--lots of Communism, as you‘ll see.)
The stations finally opened to the public on May 15th, 1935.
Centralised funding meant that Josef Stalin was able to pour nearly unlimited funds into his construction of the Moscow subway system . And he did. While the need for a rapid transit system for Moscow was originally conceived of after the turn of the century, during the reign of Czar Nicholas II, it’s constuction was postponed because of one extremely bloody little revolution, a nagging civil war and a big to-do known as the First World War. But once everybody was done killing each other (publicly), rapid transit was once again a major concern for Moscow’s fast-growing but slow-moving population.
As the often doubted Communist political system was unveiled after the revolution of 1916 it strived to show the world that it was the greatest, most impressive and capable system in existence. The best way to this? Why by building big, expensive, fancy shit, of course. It lets people know who’s boss. But Stalin wanted to prove that everything in Russia was grand, as well as to show that beauty, like money and power (cough, cough) should be evenly distributed amongst this new nation of equals.
And so began the massive undertaking of the Moscow Metro system, for which the construction of a simple station was transformed into the construction of an underground, working man’s palace. Noted artists and architects were brought in to render each station a unique magnum opus, with no central theme other than that of opulence (and Communism--lots of Communism, as you‘ll see.)
The stations finally opened to the public on May 15th, 1935.
STATION ONE:MAYAKOVSKAYA
I picked Mayakovskaya to lead off, not because it is the necessarily known as the greatest station, but because one of my clients claimed that she thought it was the most beautiful. If a Muscovite loves it, it’s a good place to start (note: this theory does not apply to holodets).
Built by soviet architect Alexey Dushkin and opened in 1930, this glamorous station is one of the most well-known in the world for its pre-Stalinist design. Dushkin's art-deco concept is both grand and simplistic, the entire space covered in ornate marble, pink rhondite, stainless steel and glass mosaics. It was inspired and named after poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, due to his descriptions of the Soviet future. Maybe that’s why all the red? (on my camera, it looks brownish, but it is really a bright, intense red).
Mayakovskaya can also lay claim to one more dubious honour--during World War II, when the deepest metro tunnels were used as air-raid shelters, Stalin used to give speeches from the platform of Mayakovskaya. It is still rumoured that this station is one of the few connected to a second, deeper, seret emergency-excavation subway reserved for Russia’s most powerful elite.
I picked Mayakovskaya to lead off, not because it is the necessarily known as the greatest station, but because one of my clients claimed that she thought it was the most beautiful. If a Muscovite loves it, it’s a good place to start (note: this theory does not apply to holodets).
Built by soviet architect Alexey Dushkin and opened in 1930, this glamorous station is one of the most well-known in the world for its pre-Stalinist design. Dushkin's art-deco concept is both grand and simplistic, the entire space covered in ornate marble, pink rhondite, stainless steel and glass mosaics. It was inspired and named after poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, due to his descriptions of the Soviet future. Maybe that’s why all the red? (on my camera, it looks brownish, but it is really a bright, intense red).
Mayakovskaya can also lay claim to one more dubious honour--during World War II, when the deepest metro tunnels were used as air-raid shelters, Stalin used to give speeches from the platform of Mayakovskaya. It is still rumoured that this station is one of the few connected to a second, deeper, seret emergency-excavation subway reserved for Russia’s most powerful elite.
1 comment:
sigh. i love subways. And the Soviets sure knew how to build them. The stations on Kharkov, Ukraine are beautiful, too -- each one themed differently.
Wait...they let you take pictures?! In Ukraine they said cameras were not allowed for reasons of public security. We were told you could get arrested for photographing the place. Maybe they're just paranoid -- then again, considering Russian aggression, maybe they'd do well to watch out. ;)
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