Art Down The Tubes

Italian transport planners always run the risk of unearthing archeological riches that can put the brakes on subway expansion projects. But the sometimes chaotic southern city of Naples is doing the reverse: deliberately putting modern art underground. The No Places project, whose latest edition was unveiled in July before a gathering of European transport ministers, features works along the No. 1 line by Greece's Jannis Kounellis, Britain's David Tremlett and Italy's Michelangelo Pistoletto.

The brand-new Materdei station sports a brightly colored sculpture by Luigi Serafini and a Sandro Chia mosaic. Achille Bonito Oliva, the project's curator, calls it the world's first "obligatory museum" — if you ride the No. 1 line, you can't miss it. Still, city officials are perhaps proudest of the brushstrokes that have not shown up. Barely a trace of graffiti or vandalism has been registered since the scheme began.

"Through this project, Neapolitans are showing a huge amount of pride," says Giovanna Torcia, spokeswoman for the city's subway authority. "If we educate people about beauty, they want to keep things beautiful."