Post by Herrenknecht AG

At Herrenknecht, we know that tunnels are more than just marvels of engineering. They are connectors and destinations, where story and science mix. Ultimately, they are human places, built by engineers, and used by everyone like Marie Andersson. “My name is Marie Andersson, and I work as a professional art guide in Stockholm. I’ve always had an interest in art, and studied art history at university. But my specialism is in public art because I’m also very interested in society. I think it is important that everyone is able to meet good art in their everyday life. Not just people with money, or those who feel comfortable going to museums and galleries. In Sweden, we have lots of public art – in the metro system, on the streets, in the squares – because it's been state funded since 1937. Close to 30 years ago, the Stockholm Information Service organised a training course with the chief architect of SL – the company running the metro system. The goal was to get more information about the metro stations to tour guides. I became fascinated, and quickly started to explore and discover the art on my own. I’ve been running art tours on the metro for SL for 25 years, first in Swedish, and later in English. “Stockholm started building the underground stations in the 1950s, and the newest ones opened in 1994, so I’ve been brought up with them. All but six of the stations on the network feature public art. The blue line stations are particularly interesting because they are so cave-like. We have very good granite bedrock in Stockholm, which was blasted out to form these cave stations. My favourite is Kungsträdgården, which means the King's Garden. It was designed by a wonderful artist called Ulrik Samuelson who turns 90 this year. His design is about history, art, architecture, but there’s also a lot of humour and playfulness there too. Because it sits beneath a park, green is the dominant colour, and every single detail in the design was important to him. The long tunnel to the exit is almost like a bridge – you can look down on both sides where he placed original sculptures and real fragments from torn-down buildings in Stockholm. It looks like a Forum Romanum, or an archaeological site. There are plants growing there too, and flowing water. There’s even a tiny spider that doesn’t live anywhere else in northern Europe except this metro station. And there’s unique moss and fungi on the walls. It’s so beautiful.” What is your personal story about a station? Share with us your tunnel vision in the comments! #HK50 #pioneeringundergroundtogether