Every day millions of people take the subway, no matter if it’s morning, afternoon or evening, during the week or at the weekend, the trains that run under the world’s metropolises unite us all. To find our way around these huge underground labyrinths, at least once in our lives, we have all looked at and studied a map of the subway, with all those colorful lines that intersect and cross. 

In 1972 it was Italian designer Massimo Vignelli who gave shape to the map of the New York subway, characterized by an elegant and stylized style that has survived until today. 

“The lines would be colored spaghetti running straight and making sharp curves, crossing the map horizontally, vertically and diagonally.

In the last book written and illustrated by Emiliano Ponzi The Great New York Subway Map we retrace the history that led Vignelli to draw the map that became famous in the world. The volume, which was realized in collaboration with MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, is now also available in its Italian version, La Grande Mappa della Metropolitana di New York, published by FATATRAC Edizioni. 

On the occasion of this new publication, until May 5, 2019, the MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna will host the exhibition of the same name which, through a circular route, will present 16 plates made by Ponzi that tell the story of Vignelli’s project, the years and the cultural context in which it took shape, without ever forgetting the ultimate goal, which is to convey to fans and not the idea of scratches design as a means to solve problems. In addition, in the foyer to welcome visitors, there will be a wooden reproduction in scale 1:1 of the head carriage of the New York subway designed by Ponzi himself.