Earlier this month, Naples unveiled Monte Sant’Angelo Station, a subway stop unlike any other. Designed by the internationally acclaimed artist Anish Kapoor, it elevates what is typically a functional, utilitarian space into a sculptural experience, where art, architecture and urban life converge. Spanning more than two decades in conception and construction, Kapoor’s station reimagines public infrastructure as a cultural landmark, redefining not only the Traiano district but the very notion of how a subway can shape perception, movement and imagination.
Monte Sant’Angelo Station embodies Kapoor’s enduring fascination with form, void and the body. Its two entrances offer contrasting yet complementary encounters. The Monte Sant’Angelo portal rises raw and elemental from the ground in weathering steel, evoking the mythic descent into the underworld as much as an entry into Naples’ subterranean network. The Traiano entrance, by contrast, is smooth, tubular and precise, a luminous counterpoint that emphasises clarity, flow and elegance. Inside, the tunnel walls retain a tactile, almost primal roughness, while the play of light and shadow draws commuters into a sensory journey. It is architecture that breathes, where sculptural form and infrastructure are inseparable.
Kapoor’s station belongs to a lineage of visionary metro design that has transformed urban life worldwide. Lisbon’s Metro, particularly stations designed in the late 20th century by architects such as Ana Costa with artistic direction from Maria Keil, demonstrates how underground spaces can become immersive works of art. Vivid tile mosaics, sculptural interventions and choreographed circulation turn daily transit into a theatrical, almost contemplative experience. Stockholm’s Tunnelbana, known as the world’s longest art gallery, similarly embeds murals, sculptures and installations throughout its stations, turning the ordinary act of commuting into a cultural encounter. More recently, Santiago Calatrava’s work for Madrid’s Chamartín extension fuses structural elegance with flowing, light-filled spaces, proving that engineering and artistry can coexist seamlessly in public transport. Each example illustrates how design innovation transforms not only movement but the emotional and civic resonance of a city.
Anish Kapoor’s career uniquely prepares him for such an undertaking. Born in Mumbai in 1954 and based in London, Kapoor has long explored the interplay between perception, materiality and myth. From early pigment-based sculptures that teeter between form and formlessness to monumental public works such as Cloud Gate in Chicago, his art interrogates boundaries between object and environment. Kapoor has received numerous accolades, including the Turner Prize in 1991 and representing Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1990 and his works have become permanent fixtures in international collections. His practice consistently invites interaction, reflection and movement, turning viewers into participants.
Monte Sant’Angelo is a culmination of these principles. Kapoor describes the station as a “mythological object,” and indeed, entering its portals feels like stepping into a narrative of descent and emergence. Collaboration with architects Jan Kaplický and Amanda Levete of Future Systems ensured that the station’s aesthetic integrity was preserved throughout – from entrance to tunnel – while retaining full functionality. The result is an environment where form, sensation and utility coexist, an immersive experience that transcends conventional transit architecture.
Beyond its formal innovation, the station exemplifies the transformative potential of cultural placemaking, often referred to as the “Bilbao Effect.” Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry, catalysed economic revitalisation and tourism, demonstrating how a single landmark can redefine a city’s identity. Monte Sant’Angelo operates on a similar principle. By embedding a work of internationally significant art into the fabric of daily life, Naples has created a destination that attracts locals and visitors alike, fostering civic pride and redefining the Traiano district. Kapoor’s station shows that infrastructure, when conceived with artistic vision, can be a catalyst for social and cultural renewal.
Placemaking through design extends beyond visual spectacle; it is about creating spaces that invite engagement and exploration. Monte Sant’Angelo transcends the functional role of a subway station. Commuters inhabit the space as participants in a carefully orchestrated experience, where the interplay of interior and exterior produce a journey that resonates with mythological and bodily symbolism. Here, the act of moving through the city is transformed into an encounter with form, space and narrative.
Kapoor’s intervention also carries broader cultural significance. By situating a major work of contemporary art within an everyday context, he democratises access to artistic experience, seamlessly weaving aesthetic engagement into daily life. Themes of void, presence, and transformation – central to Kapoor’s practice – gain new resonance within Monte Sant’Angelo, turning descent into the station into a ritualised exploration of perception and space. This is not merely a station that transports passengers; it transports imagination. Naples’ underground has become a site of reflection, wonder, and cultural significance. In dialogue with historical precedents – from Lisbon to Stockholm to Madrid – Monte Sant’Angelo positions Naples within a global narrative of visionary metro design. Through the lens of the Bilbao Effect, the station demonstrates the capacity of iconic design to kickstart urban regeneration, enrich public life and redefine the relationship between people, place and transit.
Monte Sant’Angelo Station is, in every sense, a landmark. Movement becomes meditation, art and architecture converge, and infrastructure attains cultural and civic significance. Kapoor’s vision ensures that Naples now possesses a subterranean destination that captivates, inspires and transforms – a station as much a site of contemplation and discovery as it is a point of departure and arrival. Monte Sant’Angelo exemplifies the very best of contemporary urban design and public art.
Words: Anna Müller
Image Credits:
1&6. Anish Kapoor, Monte Sant’Angelo Station. Naples, Italy. Photograph by Amedeo Benestante. © Anish Kappor. All rights reserved, DACS – SIAE, 2023
2. Anish Kapoor, Monte Sant’Angelo Station. Naples, Italy. Photograph by Amedeo Benestante. © Anish Kappor. All rights reserved, DACS – SIAE, 2023
3. © Aubin Kirch.
4. © Nicola Zhukov.
5. © David Vives.
7. Anish Kapoor, Monte Sant’Angelo Station. Naples, Italy. Photograph by Amedeo Benestante. © Anish Kappor. All rights reserved, DACS – SIAE, 2023
