Art Nouveau enthusiasts will be familiar with the aediculae designed by architect Hector Guimard above Paris metro stations ! Typical and recognizable, they are nevertheless far fewer in number than when the metro was inaugurated in 1900, with only half remaining. Sadly, many of them were destroyed, but some were fortunate enough to travel the world and set up shop elsewhere, promoting French art and participating in artistic exchanges.
These architectural elements were exchanged for other works of art, which are now installed in the Paris metro. Among the seven passenger kiosks, the oldest can be found in the garden of New York's MoMa, donated by RATP in 1958. Lisbon also owns one, in the Picoas station, and in return offered us the colorful Azulejo geometric tiles, which can be found in the Champs-Elysées Clémenceau station. Also of note is the one donated to the City of Montreal, Canada, to adorn Square Victoria station in 1967, restored in 2003. As a gift this time, we picked up Geneviève Cadieux's La Voie Lactée, a mosaic depicting a mouth, in the corridors of Saint-Lazare!
In Picoas you can find a little piece of Paris.
- VisitLisboa (@TurismodeLisboa) January 17, 2020
A gift from the Paris Metro (RATP), this station was made to resemble the Cité Station in Paris.
#VisitLisboa
📍 Picoas
📷 internati0nal pic.twitter.com/c5YUPMV6Qn
They also exist in Washington, Mexico City, Chicago and Moscow, the latter being the most recent, offered in 2007. Thanks to these exchanges, our Palais-Royal, Bir-Hakeim and Madeleine stations now have lovely mosaics and painted glass panels within them.
[#JeudiPhoto] So, at Palais-Royal Musée du Louvre station, before entering the @MuseeLouvre carrousel, you can see "La Pensée et l'Âme huicholes", the fresco by shaman Santos de la Torre Santiago donated by the Mexico City metro. pic.twitter.com/X5GaxMhhNg
- RATP Group Territoires (@RATPGroup_Terr) November 14, 2019
Did you know? This is the last of Hector Guimard's original Type B metro station aediculae.
Did you know? Hector Guimard's last surviving type B kiosk, nicknamed La Libellule, is located at Porte Dauphine station in Paris. This exceptional Parisian metro entrance is one of the last original vestiges, and we tell you all about it. [Read more]
Did you know? This is the last of Hector Guimard's original Type B metro station aediculae.
