All the Art Stations of Naples Metro, presented one by one

The Museo stop, located along Line 1, is one of the most fascinating in the city. Opened in 2001, the station is located in the heart of Naples, just a short walk from the National Archaeological Museum. Designed by Gae Aulenti, the station's architecture consists of essential volumes in sequence, characterized by red plaster and Vesuvian stone that recall the nearby museum building. Inside, steel and white glass roofs provide a backdrop for casts of the Ettore Farnese and the “Carafa” horse head, a reproduction of the Laocoon, and photographs by Campania-born contemporary artists Mimmo Jodice, Luciano D'Alessandro, Fabio Donato, Raffaela Mariniello, and Antonio Biasiucci.

The design of the Salvator Rosa station on Line 1 is by Alessandro Mendini, who saw this work as an opportunity to also work on the surrounding area, turning the urban space into a multi-level contemporary art gallery, including the adjoining buildings. Opened in April 2001, this station houses sculptures and installations that together with the architecture, in terms of colors and materials, recall a deliberately marked playful aspect. Artists involved include Lucio Del Pezzo, Nino Longobardi, Anna Sargenti, Renato Barisani, Salvatore Paladino, Mimmo Paladino, Riccardo Dalisi, Enzo Cucchi, Ugo Marani, and Fulvia Mendini. 

A clear tribute to the Neapolitan resistance during the Four Days of Naples in September 1943, the Quattro Giornate station is named after the square of the same name and stands out for combining historical memory and contemporary art. The project, curated by Domenico Orlacchio, includes works celebrating Neapolitans' courage and spirit of rebellion. Among the most significant installations are the bronzes and paintings by Nino Longobardi, and Le Combattenti, four sculptures by Marisa Albanese that stand for symbols of freedom and resistance. Located in the Vomero neighborhood, this station is not only a transit point but also a place for reflection on the city's history.

The Materdei station, designed by architect Alessandro Mendini, brought new life to Piazza Scipione Ammirato through vibrant colors and geometric designs, turning it into a pedestrian area. Among the works of art featured are mosaics by Sandro Chia and Luigi Ontani, geometric shapes by Ettore Spalletti, and a colored bronze sculpture by Luigi Serafini. At the track level, Sol Lewitt's Wall Drawings and Domenico Bianchi's drawings saturate the area with hues, prompting city travelers to experience contemporary art as they traverse through.

The Rione Alto subway stop, designed by architect Nicola Pagliara, is distinguished by its minimalist and functional aesthetic. The exterior features metal and glass domes, and is embellished with a mosaic by Achille Cevoli. The atrium, on the other hand, hosts David Tremlett's Wall Drawings, with geometric shapes in flat backgrounds of saturated colors along the walls. In the passage corridors, near the escalators, are the seven poly-material panels by the Neapolitan Giuseppe Zevola, Katharina Sieverding's sequences of reiterated faces, the light-boxes by the Bianco-Valente couple, and many other works all to be discovered.

Another Gae Aulenti project for the Naples metro is the Dante station on Line 1, inaugurated on March 27, 2002, which also included an improvement to the historic square, without changing Vanvitelli's original design. The slabs of Etna stone that constitute the paving follow 18th-century lines, with the crystal and steel entrances blending harmoniously with the historic architecture. Again, steel and white glass make up a layout that hosts the works of renowned contemporary artists: two canvases by Carlo Alfano, Joseph Kosuth's work These Visible Things (a quotation from Dante Alighieri's Convivio), Jannis Kounellis's Untitled, Michelangelo Pistoletto's Intermediterraneo, and finally the mosaic Universe without Bombs, Kingdom of Flowers, 7 Red Angels by Nicola De Maria.

French architect and urban planner Dominique Perrault worked on the renovation of Garibaldi station by also incorporating the area of the square, with a division into two areas: an open space with gardens and play areas, and a space with steel and glass structures, protecting the square below and the interior of the station. The transparent glass roof allows natural light to reach almost to the platform level. Inside, there are two large works by Michelangelo Pistoletto. The installations, titled Station, are made of huge mirrored steel panels with screen-printed photographs of passengers, and create an unexpected interaction between art and life.

The Università station of the Naples metro, designed by the multifaceted architect and designer Karim Rashid, and inaugurated on March 26, 2011, speaks directly to the emotions of passers-by through spaces that reflect knowledge and languages of the new digital age, conveying ideas of simultaneous communication, innovation and mobility. The access stairs are lined with words coined in the last fifty years, while the large atrium, with bright colors and digital images, develops following an aesthetic dimension all linked to the digital world. The installation encompasses all the spaces of the station, reaching up to the platform level, where there are H3D lenticular panels that create moving images.

The Municipio station, designed by Portuguese architects Àlvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura, was recently officially finished with the end of the construction of Line 6, becoming an interchange for Lines 1 and 6. The work by the two architects also involved the square above, at the center of which was relocated the Neptune Fountain, a marble work made starting in the late 1500s and attributed to Domenico Fontana, Michelangelo Naccherino, Pietro Bernini and Cosimo Fanzago. The dialogue between the ancient walls and the modern intervention is the common thread of the project, reflecting the lessons of the masters of the modern movement.

Perhaps the most famous of all art stations in Naples, Toledo was designed by Catalan architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca. The area above communicates with the underground rooms thanks to skylights that allow sunlight to reach the lower floors. On the -1 floor, one can admire the remains of the Aragonese walls that dialogue with the architectural intervention. Here, there are large mosaics by William Kentridge with scenes inspired by the history of Naples. Descending further, the tones of the environment cool down, until you reach the monumental Crater de luz, a large conical opening that rips through the station's floors. Here are also works by other artists such as Robert Wilson, Achille Cevoli, Oliviero Toscani, Lawrence Weiner, Shirin Neshat, Ilya Ed Emilia Kabakov, and Francesco Clemente.

The Vanvitelli station, designed by architect Michele Capobianco and opened in 1993, underwent a significant makeover between 2004 and 2005, overseen by Lorenzo and Michele Capobianco with artistic advice from Achille Bonito Oliva. The project aimed to arrange the large rooms to display the artworks of eight modern art masters, separating the areas with different colors. Among the main installations, Giulio Paolini's work Off Limits opens the path to images by Vettor Pisani and photographs by Gabriele Basilico and Olivo Barbieri. The most striking installation is undoubtedly Mario Merz's blue neon tubular spiral on the station's vault, one of the Milanese artist's last works, in dialogue with Gilberto Zorio's large steel stars placed above the escalators.

Strategically located near the Maradona Stadium, the Mostra d'Oltremare and the Federico II University polytechnic, the Mostra station, part of Line 6, was designed by Studio Protec. Black-and-white photographs by Gabriele Basilico enhance the Mostra d'Oltremare architecture in a striking visual contrast in the entrance hall. Here there are also three mosaics made to a design by Mario Sironi. Continuing toward the docks, there are the works of four artists: some photographs by Pino Musi, the Monument to G. P. by Gianni Pisani, a splendid female face by Marisa Merz, and finally the ceramic work Si dividono invano by Carla Accardi.

The Mergellina station is known for its unusual oblique elevator and atrium, designed by Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani. A junction point between Line 2 and Line 6, it features a number of works of art that welcome passers-by to one of the city's most beautiful and evocative spots at the foot of Posillipo hill. The station gates-characterized by a graphic play on the repetition of the words “metro” and “Mergellina” – are the work of Alan Fletcher, a British artist who is among the leading exponents of international graphic design. Gerhard Merz's mosaics, on the other hand, cover the walls of the atrium with the soft, muted colors of a sunny summer blue, to lead the eye of passersby to the splendid panorama of Mergellina.

The Lala station, located in the Fuorigrotta neighborhood, was designed by Studio Protec and faithfully follows the perimeter of the area in which it is located. Here are works by six contemporary artists: two photographs by Brazilian Salvino Campos, recalling the culture of his home country, and female nudes by Senegalese Ousmane Ndiaye Dago. Just before the docks, there is a photograph by Monica Biancardi, a story about the Virgin Mary as an example of femininity, and shots by Luca Campigotto and Vincenzo Castella that depict the Neapolitan urban environment. In addition to the photographs, there's also Nanni Balestrini's installation Allucco (2006), composed of shards of mirrored surface with graphic interventions, an explosion of shapes and words.

The Augusto subway station was also designed by Studio Protec. Located near the avenue of the same name and Largo Veniero, it included the redevelopment of outdoor spaces as well.  There are a number of works decorating the corridors leading to the platforms: from mosaics and reliefs by Maria Cristina Crespo, Matteo Fraterno, Carmine Rizzuti and Luisa Rabbia, to Franco Scognamiglio's series of light boxes dedicated to the life of Tuscan physicist Galileo Galilei, to Botto&Bruno's installation expressing the youth and urban discomfort of the suburbs.

The Duomo station, designed by Studio Fuksas, is located in the central Pendino district and connects important areas of the city such as Piazza del Mercato, Via Marina, the Rettifilo, and places of cultural interest. Placed at a depth of about forty meters, during excavations for its construction, an area of archaeological interest was found with the remains of the temple of the Isolympic Games established in 2 AD by Augustus. The plan includes building a dome made of metal and glass, which integrates and enables viewing of the archaeological digs from ground level. Currently, the descent to the docks designed by Massimiliano Fuksas proposes a complex perceptual experience given by the use of color and hexagonal geometric textures, made of steel and illuminated with multicolored LEDs, recalling the dynamism of the city.

The Chiaia station, designed by architect Uberto Siola, was inaugurated in July 2024 and has entered by right among the most beautiful art stations in Naples. Its design unfolds vertically, and the artistic layout was conceived by British director and screenwriter Peter Greenaway, with the idea of proposing a journey into the mythology of the Greek gods, with sculptures dedicated to them placed along the entire route: from Zeus protector of travelers at the entrance, to Poseidon, Demeter, Persephone and Hades, as if in a descent to the underworld to the platforms. The large glass and steel dome above the upper entrance allows natural light to reach all the way to the platforms.

Inaugurated in July 2024, the San Pasquale station is the result of a project by Slovenian architect Boris Podrecca, at the basis of which there are marine and contemporary suggestions brought to the surface through collaboration with Austrian artist Peter Kogler, among the pioneers of digital art. Kogler designed monumental panels characterized by a graphic texture in three different shades of blue, which were placed on the walls of the stairwells to recreate the feeling of immersion in a marine world. In parallel, the plaza at the street level was redeveloped as a green area, a new meeting point in the city.

The Arco Mirelli station, designed by architect Hans Kollhoff and opened in July 2024, stands out for its harmonious integration with the monumental area of the Villa Comunale in Naples. Featuring an Art Nouveau-style entrance pavilion made of glass and steel, the station is designed to make the most of natural light, which also illuminates the underground levels. The interiors are clad in elegant materials such as Tivoli travertine and pietrarsa slabs, which lend a sense of great refinement to the spaces. Built on five levels, on the lower level is the audiovisual installation The Musical Copper Horns by German artist and performer Rebecca Horn, which enriches the experience of passersby.

The Piscinola-Scampia subway station was recently renovated as part of the Lo Scambiapassi project, an urban and social redevelopment initiative through art. Inaugurated in 2020, the project aims to transform this suburban station into a cultural space, integrating works of contemporary art and architecture into an environment once characterized by decay. Designed by Cherubino Gambardella and Simona Ottieri, the station houses works by artists such as Luciano Romano, Enzo Palumbo, and Gian Maria Tosatti. The exhibit features artworks by Romano and Palumbo alongside the evocative piece by Tosatti, Elegia di Scampia, which reimagines the setting as a reflection of the neighborhood's historical narrative and essence.