Arts et Métiers Metro: Paris’ steampunk subway station

Discover the quirky Arts et Métiers Metro station in Paris – a steampunk-style underground station decorated with copper that looks like it’s stepped out of a Jules Verne science fiction story.

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The Paris Metro may be best known for its Art Nouveau stations with their curving cast iron leaf decorations, which were the work of architect and designer Hector Guimard in the early 1900s. But there’s one which has a completely different style – Arts et Métiers. And it’s one of my favourite Parisian hidden gems, which hides an unexpected secret.

The station takes its name from the Arts et Métiers arts and craft museum located above it. And its unique steampunk-inspired design looks like something from the pages of a Jules Verne science fiction story. But how and why did this station end up like this?

Arts et Métiers and the Metro station

The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts) was founded in 1794 by Catholic priest and revolutionary leader Henri Grégoire. It started off as a collection of scientific and industrial inventions, housed in what was left of the medieval Saint-Martin-des-Champs Priory, but later also became a university.

The collections now form the Musée des Arts et Métiers, which still takes up part of the building. And when the museum celebrated its 200-year anniversary in 1994, it was decided that the Metro station below it would get a special makeover for the occasion.

Belgian comic artist and designer François Schuiten was given the job of turning the station into a giant art installation. Along with French writer Benoît Peeters, Schuiten is known for producing a series of graphic novels called Les Cités Obscures (Cities of the Fantastic), which are stories about magical, impossible cities created in a steampunk style.

If you’re not familiar with steampunk, it’s described as a ‘genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.’ It’s an old-fashioned take on what the future would look like, featuring inventions as people from the 19th century might have imagined them.

The works of authors like Jules Verne and HG Wells are an inspiration for steampunk. And Schuiten used Jules Verne’ Nautilus as his model for the new Arts et Métiers platform. In the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Nautilus was Captain Nemo’s submarine, and the platform is designed to make you feel like you’re on board.

Copper panelling covers the tunnel walls, held together with metal rivets to give it an industrial feel. There are huge cogs running across the ceiling, carved wooden seats and brass detailing. And set into the walls are portholes opening onto different scenes based on the museum’s collections – Earth from space, water wheels, satellite and bridges.

Low lighting adds to the magical, otherworldly feel, and the result is a world away from a usual subway station. It’s easy to miss the details as you speed by on board a train, so this is one Paris Metro stop which is worth getting off at just to experience the station itself – which has to be one of the more unusual and unexpected things to do in Paris.

Where to find Arts et Métiers’ steampunk subway station

Arts et Métiers is in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris on the edge of the Marais – the museum can be found at 292 Rue Saint-Martin and the entrance to the subway is in front. There are two different Metro lines running through Arts et Métiers station – Lines 3 and 11. Make sure you head to the platform for Line 11 as 3 is just a standard Metro station.

If you want to explore the area, the Musée des Arts et Métiers is well worth a visit, with collections which cover transport, communication, mechanics, materials, energy, construction and scientific instruments – including the Foucault Pendulum.

There are also several other museums and galleries within a 15-minute walk of the station, including the Pompidou Centre, Picasso Museum and Museum of Hunting and Nature. Or you can shop for fresh local produce at the Marché des Enfants Rouges.

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