Lisbon Subway tiles: 2 of 4 – Linha Azul

Part II of a post related to a self-guided tour of the Lisbon metro that I took in June 2016, hunting down metro stations with tiles by Maria Keil. Read more here.

The BLUE LINE starts with Santa Apolonia (which you’ll recognise from the Maria Keil portrait at the start of this post), running up to Avenida, and ending with the magnificent entrance area of Parque:

If you only visit one Lisbon Metro station, make it Parque (below). The entrance is a Maria Keil fest (see pics below), but as you descend the escalators, you’ll find yourself immersed in an extraordinary tiled artwork in deep ocean blues. 450 000 tiles, designed by artist Françoise Schein, retrace major moments in Portuguese history, juxtaposed with musings and comments on human rights issues.

It’s the largest artwork I have ever been inside, and that it has been incorporated into urban transport infrastructure is simply beautiful. Look at the Maria Keil tiles below, and then see lots more of Francoise Schein’s work here.

For more Lisbon Subway Tile pics, see the links below:

• Tiles on Linha Amarela (Yellow Line).
• Tiles on Linha Verde (Green Line)

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