The art metro: an underground journey through beauty
In Naples, even getting around becomes an aesthetic experience. There’s an invisible line connecting the city’s ancient heart to its most visionary face. It’s not just public transport: it’s a moving museum. The Art Metro project has transformed the stations of Line 1 (and now also Line 6) into genuine underground galleries, where architecture, design, and contemporary art engage in dialogue with the city and its people.
Public beauty, everyday beauty
Born from a bold and radical idea—bringing art outside traditional spaces—the Art Metro is now considered one of the world’s most successful examples of integrating urban infrastructure with artistic language. Each station is a world unto itself, a site-specific installation designed to surprise, welcome, and inspire.
Anonymous entrances no longer exist: every stop is a gateway to experience.
Toledo: icon of light and depth
Of all the stations, Toledo has become the international symbol of this project.
Designed by Catalan architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca, it plays with contrasts between volcanic black and deep sea blue, culminating in the striking “Crater de luz”—a cone of light that links sky and underground. A sensory, almost metaphysical work.
Università, Dante, Materdei, Museo
These stations are signed by prominent names in international art and design: Karim Rashid, Joseph Kosuth, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Sandro Chia, Mario Merz. Each stop is an invitation to explore, an urban narrative unfolding amid the flow of everyday life.
Line 6: a new chapter in the journey
In 2024, Naples opened a new segment in this extraordinary visual narrative: Line 6, connecting Fuorigrotta to the city center. The new stations—including Mostra, Augusto, Lala, and Mergellina—continue the vision of accessible, widespread art.
Designed by Atelier Mendini, these stations blend form and function, with large arches, colorful ceramics, playful lighting, and references to local history.
A metro that tells Naples' story
This is more than an aesthetic project: it’s a declaration of identity.
The Art Metro tells the story of a city that dares, that invests in beauty as a public good, that invites travelers to pause, observe, and feel.
It’s not “urban decoration,” but a language that crosses and transforms the everyday.
Getting lost in the stations, rediscovering wonder
In a city where every surface bears the marks of time, choosing to create art underground feels almost poetic. It’s there, far from natural light, that Naples lights up its imagination.
Our tip? Go underground. Discover. Stop at Toledo, then emerge at Museo, descend again at Università. Let yourself be guided, like through a boundless exhibition.
Because here in Naples, even waiting for the train becomes an encounter with beauty.
