Westfriedhof Station

When you arrive at the platform of Westfriedhof Station, you are imposed upon by enormous domed lamps perched above your head. Each emits a warm neon glow and casts shadows across the platform and tracks. There are 11 of these lamps, which measure about 12 feet in diameter. They divide the platform with swaths of blue, red and yellow light.

Westfriedhof Station can be found in Munich’s Moosach district. It is part of the Munich U-Bahn, the city’s network of underground railways, which started running in 1971. As the system has grown, many of its stations have taken on dramatic, colorful designs. Rolf Schirmer, a member of the subway planning council, wrote that the designs are meant to “make a passenger’s wait more pleasant, something that cannot generally be said of subterranean, mostly artificially lit, spaces.”

Opened in 1998, Westfriedhof is one of the more dramatic examples of architecture in the U-Bahn. When then tunnel walls were reinforced they created rock-like structures that were left uncovered as a design feature. These semi-natural features are a stark contrast to the architectural style of the rest of the platform.