the People's Palaces - a beautiful ride
January 14, 2005 7:37 AM   Subscribe

Fabulous images of the Moscow Metro underground, also known as "the people's palaces". Click "M"s on the entry map to view gorgeous (often architecturally surreal) panoramic images, and visit the picture gallery for sweet details. Via Jorgen at Viewropa.
posted by taz (24 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
See also the many wonderful historic and contemporary images at "Underground Dream": Although constructed by a tyrant for a people living in terror, this subterranean proletarian paradise offers an ironically humane vision of public social space, both beautiful and functional. Today, with construction continuing, the Moscow Metro covers over 200 kilometers of track and serves 9 million people each day.

And, something about one of its key architects.
posted by taz at 7:39 AM on January 14, 2005


Moscow Metro on beeflowers.com has been linked previously.
posted by Doohickie at 7:49 AM on January 14, 2005


Wow. Those are simply wow.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:22 AM on January 14, 2005


HFS. I can't believe those are Metro stations. But then, this is the gruel I was raised on.
posted by scarabic at 8:25 AM on January 14, 2005


This is NOT an art project.

No vision, no interpretations, no artistic contributions or ambiguities.


I love this disclaimer.
posted by 327.ca at 8:34 AM on January 14, 2005


Though it may be a double post, this seems one of those sites that's worth it. Absolutely fascinating. Suddenly, I'd like to visit Moscow.
posted by aladfar at 8:36 AM on January 14, 2005


Yeah, they're beautiful. But the turnstyles have teeth. If for some reason your ticket doesn't process right, and you can't stop your forward momentum, a couple of steel bars smash down on your lower body from either side. As a man, I can say that this is less than fun.

The stations sure are amazing, though.
posted by ORthey at 8:36 AM on January 14, 2005


Holy shit. Beautiful.
posted by picea at 8:45 AM on January 14, 2005


Ach! Funny; I remembered juju's Dacha post, but didn't remember that the Metro was a part of it. also, I blame my search failures on my stubborn habit of typing "Moskow" instead of "Moscow".
posted by taz at 8:48 AM on January 14, 2005


These are great, thanks for the reminder, taz - and Bee Flowers has a whole load more interesting galleries from her front page.
posted by carter at 8:49 AM on January 14, 2005


ooh, check out this zoomable panorama of the Moscow skyline.
posted by carter at 8:53 AM on January 14, 2005


Wow, these are amazing. They make me want to go to Moscow and ride the Metro.

Chicago El stations aren't as interesting.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:59 AM on January 14, 2005


These are gorgeous.

I have to remind myself the whole thing was built with slave labour. I read a great book on the sociological and technical history of subways, (I think was Labyrinths of Iron ) which included a letter written from a prisoner forced to work on the Moscow metro. What struck me was how proud he was to give his broken body to the glory of the state.
posted by Popular Ethics at 9:16 AM on January 14, 2005


Moscow has very beautiful subways. They are also vey deep underground when compared to places like New York and London.
posted by camworld at 9:27 AM on January 14, 2005


It's not exactly a double post in that "the people's palaces" link is from moscow-taxi.com, not beeflowers.com. I was just sayin'. I looked at the beeflowers link for a while the first time around, so that was definitely familiar, but the moscow-taxi.com site has some different stuff.

The good sites are always worth an occasional repost. Unless it's by a n00b. Then they're just target practice.
posted by Doohickie at 9:29 AM on January 14, 2005


I don't know about you, but I prefer watching the rats as I wait for a train here in Boston.
posted by toddst at 9:37 AM on January 14, 2005


I was fortunate enough to visit Moscow a few years back and ventured into the Metro.

Since they were also intended as nuclear bomb shelters, the escalators seem to go down forever, until you feel almost near hell. Then when you get off, you realize the stations are frozen in time. The communist art has never left, so there are reminders everywhere of the past.

Visiting Moscow is an experience, not a vacation. I've been all over the world, and I've been overwhelmed only in Moscow.

Great post, thanks!
posted by AspectRatio at 9:47 AM on January 14, 2005


taz, loved the post. Moscow is one (out of many) dream destimations for me. I hope one day...
I also hope this comes to life soon ;-)
posted by carmina at 10:11 AM on January 14, 2005


awesome. those reds make the DC metro look like a shabby cousin from the boonies. Socialism has its perks.
posted by crunchland at 10:47 AM on January 14, 2005


I just want to say thank you. This brought back many memories.

Ploshad Revolutia was one of the particularly interesting stations to me... It was a bit of a strange feeling seeing the beauty of these things as an outsider, but then finding it was much more complicated for the people there... I would express awe at the art/architecture and be met with "Do you know how many people died to make that?!" The sculptor of the soldiers in Ploshad Revolutia got in trouble for how he depicted them—huddled, instead of official pride and gloriousness...

I really wish I had access to my scrapbooks now... ah, natsukashii...
posted by MightyNez at 11:06 AM on January 14, 2005


I agree. Wow.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:30 AM on January 14, 2005




*applause*
posted by fluffycreature at 3:04 PM on January 14, 2005


Why does this bring up the Pyramids of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt in my mind?
posted by semmi at 8:43 PM on January 14, 2005


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