Art & Architecture

This station, which is the main access point to the Olympic Stadium and other Olympic installations, emphasizes sobriety. The wall cladding in brown brick and roughened, ridged concrete, typical of the period, give an air of calm power that puts in relief the excitement of the spectators passing through the station.

Due to the traffic patterns for which this station was planned—sudden huge surges of passengers before and after events at the Olympic Stadium—the station is built with the widest possible passenger accesses. The stairways from the entrances and the tunnel from the stadium lead into a vast concourse, providing plenty of space for crowds to circulate, and thence via a very long row of turnstiles to an even wider mezzanine over the platforms.

To accommodate these spacious areas, the station was built cut-and-cover. The mezzanine, occupying the centre of the trainroom, is connected to the platforms by a series of short staircases, four to each platform. Each end of the mezzanine overlooks a volume above the platforms; the parapets at the ends of the mezzanine were glazed for fire safety during renovation work in 2020-2022. Intriguingly, the parapets share their unusual shape—curving inward at the middle—with the ceiling above the ends of the trainroom. An imposing system of pillars, arches, and transverse beams support the station’s roof.

The bright yellow seats along the platforms and in the concourse are identical in form to those found at neighbouring Joliette station, by the same architect. The floors are attractively patterned with fan-shaped patterns in tan tiles; in fact, this pattern continues into the access hall of the stadium itself.

In the concourse, the tiles form concentric circles repeating similar circles in the ceilings, which were originally intended to house light shafts.³ The circular ceiling recesses now host an artwork by Francis Montillaud, installed in 2025 as a 1% work for the elevator installation project. Entitled Point de mire, the three suspended ring-shaped sculptures in gold, silver, and bronze recall both the modern Olympic medals and the laurel wreaths given to champions in ancient times.

This work is one of several in the station, all of which are related to the Olympics. Three of them are by station architect Marcel Raby. On the wall of the Angrignon platform, the Olympic rings are sculpted in bronze. Also on the Angrignon platform, a ventilation shaft over the easternmost staircase is concealed by a sculptural grille with a pattern of tubes in the Olympic colours.

A third mural sculpture by Marcel Raby is composed of a series of five disks decorated with glazed ceramic knobs in the Olympic colours, angled downwards along the passengers’ route into the station. This work was concealed for many years because it was located in a closed secondary access between the Olympic Stadium connection and the Angrignon platform (see Trivia below). Happily, during the station’s 2020-2022 renovation, the artwork was finally returned to public view, relocated to the wall facing the Olympic Stadium access on the ticket hall level.

The most important work of art, however, is a relief mural by Jordi Bonet on the wall of the mezzanine. This powerful work is entitled Citius, Altius, Fortius, the Latin version of the Olympic motto “faster, higher, stronger.” The work consists of a long concrete frieze divided into three sections, poured in situ with an exceedingly intricate moulding. These represent physical endeavour through a series of abstract, metaphorical images. At the centre, an aluminum panel bears a mythic figure representing the human spirit at the heart of the drive to excel.

As for street level, the eastern entrance was designed by Olympic Stadium architect Roger Taillibert’s team as part of the stadium project¹ and is integrated into the stadium’s esplanade. It takes the unusual shape of a rotunda, repeating the curvature of the stadium. The circular shape of the room, though not of its street-facing façade, was slightly modified in 2020-2022, creating a corner at the rear left-hand side to accommodate an elevator.

Immediately to the north of this entrance, a station for the SRB Pie-IX bus rapid transit corridor was installed in 2023. The station, named Pierre-De Coubertin, takes the shape of a metal canopy curving down at the north end to reach the ground. It is visually supported by short sections of wall on its rear side, vertically offset along the slope of the street and painted in the SRB’s signature colours of black and teal. The rest of the open structure’s walls are glass. Unfortunately, unlike the other stations along the route, Pierre-De Coubertin station does not currently display a section of Jean-Sébastien Denis’s artwork Kyrielle. Instead, all the panels along the roof display the lozenge symbol for reserved bus lanes. Also, unlike the other stations, only the northbound (east) side, for boarding passengers, currently has a shelter. Presumably, a shelter will be built on the west side once the extension south to Rue Notre-Dame is completed.

The more conventional rectangular entrance building on the western side of the street, with an overhanging concrete roof typical of the period, is connected to the concourse by a curvilinear corridor. This headhouse has also been equipped with an elevator, to serve both sides of the SRB Pie-IX.

This headhouse contains a second segment of Francis Montillaud’s artwork Point de mire: three disks, again in the colours of the Olympic medals, and decorated with forms in haut relief suggesting the stylized pictograms used during the 1976 Olympics to represent the various sports. The disks are installed above the stairwell leading into the station.

Overall, this station’s impressive spaces, its historical value, and its works of art, especially Jordi Bonet’s outstanding creation, make it well worth the visit.