Poland’s “Unicorn Stable” tram station is dazzling and I want to nerd out with you about it

This is the central tram station in Łódź, Poland. It’s nicknamed the Unicorn Stable, because it’s made of rainbows and magic, obviously.

Technically the station is named Piotrkowska-Centrum. You can see it on the Łódź tramway map where the orange and blue lines come together.

It’s everything I think great urban architecture should be: simulltaneously intricately ornamented and unblushingly contemporary.

The most obvious feature is the colorful stained glass—actually a glass-like plastic—that lets in light and gives the inside an ethereal-seeming rainbow glow.

Equally dazzling are the intricate lattice columns holding up the roof.

The overall effect of an expansive, open ground level set under a high, ornamented top is something like a catheral, except light and airy and modern and devoted to transit.

I don’t know a whole lot about Łódź or its tram system. I have no idea if the Unicorn Stable operates efficiently or if its planners built it within budget. I learned about via Instagram, and all I can speak to are its aesthetics.

But aesthetics matter. It’s nice to have pretty things with your infrastructure.

And y’all, I love this so much.