This paper takes as a starting point the artistic interventions that took place in the Barcelona subway from 2001 to 2011, to be found mostly in the newly built stations in the peripheral neighbourhoods of the city. In order to understand and explore the concept of public art as applied in the context of the Barcelona model during the last decade, the essay focuses on the analysis of a sample of permanent projects. The objective is to contemplate the concept that is public art and how it continues to remain an open and controversial subject. What can we learn from those underground interventions, frequently on the border of what we might understand to be art, architecture and design, that perform in the places of transit, non-places, where the liquid identities melt down inside the metropolis pot.
