Lisbon Subway tiles: 1 of 4

While in Lisbon in June, I spent one hot, hot day doing something very, very cool: I spent the entire day underground, zooming around the metro system, looking for tiles by Maria Keil. I’ve written about this artist before on this blog, and this subterranean pilgrimage was something firmly on my Lisbon agenda, even though I had very little information to go on.

When Paul came back from a visit to Lisbon in 2014, he brought me a book called Desvio/Padrão (Standard/Deviation) by Joana and Sara Morais, which is where I first heard about Maria Keil and about the massive commission she landed when Lisbon started building an underground railway system, for which she was to design and produce tiles. The project that continued from 1958 – 1972, and she designed tiles for 17 stations.

I literally had to pop up at each station to see what I could find, as I was unable to find anything online that might help me plot my journey. In the day I spent riding trains, I managed to find 13 stations decorated by Maria Keil, which I’ve marked with a pink circle on the map above. My map may very well be incomplete, but in the absence of any other comprehensive online list, perhaps this will be of use to future tile nerds.

All that popping up resulted in a massive number of photos – so many, that I’ve decided to post them in groups, according to the subway line they’re on.

Post 2 of 4 – Linha Azul (blue line)

Post 3 of 4 – Linha Amarela (Yellow Line).

Post 4 of 4 – Linha Verde (Green Line)

Also, I have posted LOTS more pics of Lisbon’s tiles (above ground) here.