Marble Arch Underground Station - Most Beautiful Decoration?

Problems
How do you distinguish one station from another? How do you entertain yourself on a train journey?

Answers
I looked at several stations between Bank and South Ruislip on the London underground. Most were unremarkable. Marble Arch was definitely the best.

Design
Not just a repeating pattern. Not just a daub, a smear. A lot of work, effort, time, went into designing that.

The effect is just delightful. I like the curves.

Colours
I like the colours. Black and white. Red, yellow and orange. Two shades of blue. Greeny blue. Whatever colour you like, you've got it.

Patterns
The blue and yellow triangles intersect. So do the blue and red triangles, like interlacing your fingers.

The blue circles are framed by yellow, a background. A square blue border holds the design in place. More yellow makes another frame.

Shapes
The same variety of patterns goes for the shapes. You can focus your eyes on stripes. Or semi-circles. Or circles. Or squares. Or triangles. Or solid rectangles of colour. Verticals. Or horizontals.

Echoes
I love the way the central 'door' shows the station name, makes a frame and a halo around the classic underground circle of red with the white centre.

Seats And Walls
The two arched windows or doors enhance the seats. The design connects the two seats with each other, makes them part of the design.

The blue is soothing. At first sight, maybe too many colours and patterns. Yet the whole is pleasing. Lots to look at.

Enhancing White
The boring white brick shape tiles with unpleasant associations of butchers and hospitals and morgues, manage to enhance the colours. The tiles echo the white curves and the white lettering of the words Marle Arch.

Novelty And Entertainment
Every time I look at it, I see something new. Now I see two columns, dividing the entire design into three. But they echo the uprights either side, with the mixture of triangles and curves.

Advertising Enhancement
I tried cropping the picture to show only the square tile effect in the middle. But the advertising posters either side seem to enhance it.

Symbolism
The circular emergency call box beyond the decoration echoes the round London underground symbol.

Using The Curved Wall
When you look either side, you see that the decoration rises above the black and white strip with the central red stripe, which echoes the underground lozenge.

The black marble effect floor won't show footprints, yet is again echoed in the black of the design and the chairs.

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Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.