Stockholm Metro Art: Cave Stations and the World’s Longest Gallery

Stockholm’s metro is often called the world’s longest art gallery. Of its 100 stations, more than 90 are decorated with paintings, sculptures, mosaics and installations by over 150 artists, and many Blue Line platforms are carved straight into the bedrock, with the raw stone painted in bold colours. For the price of a transit ticket, you can tour decades of Swedish public art.

How Stockholm’s metro became an art gallery

The Stockholm Metro opened on 1 October 1950 with a line from Slussen to Hökarängen. Today it has three lines, Green, Red and Blue, with seven routes, 100 stations and about 106 km of track. Of the stations, 47 are underground and 53 above ground.

Since 1957, artists have played a key role whenever a new station is built, and older stations built without art have since been decorated with statues, murals and installations. Visit Stockholm’s guide to subway art calls the 110 km network the world’s longest art exhibit.

The Blue Line’s cave stations

The Blue Line opened on 31 August 1975, and 19 of its 20 stations are underground, cut into rock. Several leave the bedrock exposed as part of the design, which gives them their cave-like look:

• T-Centralen: the Blue Line platform is a cave painted in blue and white, with art by Per Olof Ultvedt.
• Solna Centrum (1975): a red ceiling over a green landscape, designed by Anders Åberg and Karl-Olov Björk.
• Kungsträdgården: Ulrik Samuelson’s work from the 1980s and 1990s, full of historical and archaeological motifs.

More stations worth a stop

• Östermalmstorg (1965): Siri Derkert’s sandblasted engravings on the walls.
• Rissne: a fresco on the history of Earth’s civilisations.
• Barkarbystaden: video art by Helena Byström referring to the area’s military aviation history.
• Stadion, Tekniska högskolan, Hallonbergen, Hötorget, Solna Strand, Tensta, Thorildsplan, Bagarmossen and Mörby Centrum: all on Visit Stockholm’s list of highlights, along with the new Citybanan station at Odenplan.

In 2017 a temporary exhibition at Slussen, Liv Strömquist’s The Night Garden, set off a public debate, a sign of how seriously Stockholmers take the art on their daily commute.

A self-guided metro art tour

A good short route starts at T-Centralen, where all three lines meet. See Ultvedt’s blue cave, then ride the Blue Line one stop to Kungsträdgården. Come back through T-Centralen and continue north on the Blue Line towards Solna Centrum, checking the platform display so you board the right branch.

• Go outside rush hour, when platforms are quieter and you can look at details.
• Buy a ticket that covers the whole day: SL’s English information explains fares and the current network.
• Stand clear of the platform edge and escalator landings while taking photos.

If your Scandinavian trip continues south, our Øresund crossing guide covers the bridge and tunnel that link Sweden with Denmark.

Related reading

• Treehotel in Harads: Architecture, Rooms and a Northern Sweden Stay
• Åreskutan’s Ice-Covered Lift: A Winter Photograph by Anders Carlsson
• Kolarbyn Eco Lodge: A Forest Stay Built Around Simple Routines

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