Nuove avventure sotterranee is the second chapter of the photographic campaign commissioned by Ghella. The photographic box set, edited by Alessandro Dandini de Sylva, features projects by Stefano Graziani, Rachele Maistrello, Domingo Milella, Luca Nostri, and Giulia Parlato conducted in Canada, Australia, Italy, Argentina, and New Zealand between 2022 and 2023.

Nuove avventure sotterranee juxtaposes new photographic campaigns with archival images documenting infrastructures built by Ghella between the late 1960s and the early 2000s. The difference between the two groups of photographs lies in their language. For the five photographers featured in the exhibition, observing the construction sites is the starting point for reflecting on the clichés of representation and the ambiguity of the photographic document, on excavation as an interpretation of the intangible aspects of the landscape, on the symbolism of the cave and abstraction, on the flow of the river and the depths of the sea as renderings of the city’s nature, shape, and emergencies. 

Graziani, Maistrello, Milella, Nostri, and Parlato have visually interpreted the new underground infrastructures in Vancouver, Brisbane, Naples, Buenos Aires, and Auckland, intentionally leaving a poetic distance between the construction sites and their depiction. That distance is the space of research, the place for reconsidering and revitalizing the imagery of corporate photography and glimpsing new narrative possibilities.

Matanza Riachuelo is one of the most significant and complex wastewater treatment and environmental sustainability projects in the world. The Riachuelo River runs for 64 kilometers, crossing Buenos Aires and its province. In this historically industrialized area, the river’s water has reached extremely high levels of pollution, remaining contaminated until its mouth in the Rio de la Plata, between the neighborhoods of La Boca and the city of Dock Sud. The “Riachuelo System” involves the construction of a wastewater treatment plant and an extensive network of tunnels running approximately 27 meters below the Rio de la Plata. Ghella undertook the construction of the project’s Lot 1, which was completed at the end of 2022. 

Luca Nostri (Faenza, 1976) is a photographer, teacher, and curator of the project Lugo Land - Fotografia e territorio. He has exhibited his work in cultural institutions such as Rencontres d'Arles, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Pescheria Centro Arti Visive in Pesaro, Large Glass Gallery, Italian Cultural Institute in London and New York, American Academy in Rome, where he received a fellowship as an Italian Fellow in the Arts. His photographs are included in collections of institutions such as Linea di Confine per la Fotografia Contemporanea, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Photo Library of the American Academy in Rome, Victoria & Albert Museum. Since 2014 he has been a teacher and member of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, and since 2010 he has curated a series of educational programs for universities such as the University School of Design in Philadelphia and Bard College in Hannandale on Hudson.

The construction of the Broadway Subway Project - Millennium Line Extension was initiated in 2020 and involves the extension of the existing Millennium Line connecting VCC-Clark Station to a new terminus station at Arbutus Street. The Millennium Line Extension will pass through six new stations along the Broadway Corridor, one of Canada’s busiest transit arteries. The new extension of the Millennium Line is projected to serve between 143,000 and 163,000 passengers per day by 2030 and between 167,000 and 191,000 passengers per day by 2045. Consequently, shifting transportation from road to rail will significantly contribute to reducing both traffic and local air pollution. The Project will provide a fast, frequent, and accessible service through the Broadway area, the second-largest employment district in British Columbia, as well as increased connectivity with expanding residential areas and job and innovation centers in the region, including the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). 

Stefano Graziani (Bologna, 1971) works at the intersection of photography, art, and architecture and brings an unconventional narrative to contemporary artistic discussion. His works have been exhibited internationally by institutions as the Fondazione Prada in Milan, the Venice Architecture Biennale or the European Art Biennale Manifesta. They are included in public and private collections such as CCA Montréal, Fondazione Prada, Milan, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Fondazione Fotografia di Modena, ICCD Istituto centrale per il catalogo e la documentazione, Mufoco Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Cinisello Balsamo. Graziani teaches at IUAV Venice, ISIA Urbino and NABA Milan and collaborates with architectural studios such as baukuh, Christ & Gantenbein, Office KGDVS, Piovenefabi, Kuehn Malvezzi, Onsite, Studio Mumbai, 51N4E. Among his most recent publications: Documents on Raphael (Mousse Publishing, 2021), Sverre Fehn Architecture (Buchhandlung Walther König, 2021) and Documents from Gordon Matta Clark private library (CCA Montréal, 2020). He curated Jeff Wall: Gestus, Writings on Photography and Art (Quodlibet, 2013).

The High Capacity/High-Speed Railway Naples – Bari, identified as a priority within the investments of the “Sblocca Italia” act of 2014 and included in the Next Generation EU, addresses the need for improved accessibility and connectivity between the regions. It involves the enhancement and speeding up of the route between the two southern poles, up to 200 km/h, with the aim of increasing the capacity, frequency, and regularity of transport services. Once the works are completed, it will be possible to travel from Bari to Naples in about two hours and to Rome in about three hours. This project will be part of the broader TEN-T network (Trans-European Transport Network): a set of transport infrastructures planned by the European Union to promote the integration of European countries toward a single market and to support the global fight against climate change through a transport decarbonization policy. The Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor will stretch from the Russo-Finnish border, passing through southern Sweden, Denmark, Germany, western Austria, and Italy, all the way to Malta. The project unfolds in three sections and for the natural tunnels, it employs the traditional excavation method, occasionally with controlled explosive use.

Domingo Milella (Bari, 1981) studied photography at the School of Visual Arts under the mentorship of Stephen Shore. Thomas Struth was a key mentor. He currently lives between Bari and London. His works have been exhibited in cultural institutions such as Biennale Arte, Rencontres d'Arles, Museo Nazionale Romano, Foam Museum and Fondazione Museo Pino Pascali. His works are in numerous collections such as the Museo Pecci in Prato, the Margulies Collection in Miami, and Borusan Contemporary in Istanbul. His solo exhibitions include shows at Grimaldi Gavin in London, Tracy Williams Ltd in New York, and Doppelgänger in Bari. In 2014 he published his first book with Steidl, Domingo Milella, and in 2015 he was among the curators of the exhibition Tempo al Tempo at Roman Road Gallery in London. He recently exhibited his research on prehistory and the origin of art at the Fondazione Giancarlo Ligabue in Venice for the 2024 Art Biennale and won the Bryan Robertson Trust Award at the Royal Academy of Arts in London to continue his research on the primitive and abstraction. 

Cross River Rail will play a crucial role in the public transportation system of South East Queensland, which is approaching the limit of its network capacity with just one rail crossing of the Brisbane River. The new underground railway line spans 10.2 kilometers from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, with 5.9 kilometers of twin tunnels passing under the Brisbane River and the Central Business District (CBD). The Tunnels and Stations component of the project also includes construction of four new underground stations (Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street). Most of the underground excavation phase was expertly completed through the use of two double-shield tunnel boring machines (TBMs). The remaining section of tunnel was excavated by roadheaders. The TBMs excavated the rock using a rotating cutter head equipped with cutting discs, skillfully removing the excavated material and placing prefabricated segments in place. 

Rachele Maistrello (Vittorio Veneto, 1986) is an Italian visual artist. She studied at IUAV in Venice, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zurich. His work has been exhibited in cultural institutions such as PAC Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea (Milan, 2023), Scuderie del Quirinale (Rome, 2023), Palazzo Reale (Milan, 2023), Kunsthalle Bratislava (2023), Ville Perochon (Niort, 2023), MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (Rome, 2022-2021), Benaki Museum (Athens, 2022), Centrequatre (Paris, 2022), Hamlet (Zurich, 2020), Kunstverein (Bielefeld, 2020), Inside-Out Art Museum (Beijing, 2019), Triennale Milano (2018). Her works feature in public collections including MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (Rome), Galleria Civica di Modena, MUFOCO - Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea (Cinisello Balsamo), Collezione Regione Emilia-Romagna, Museo Castromediano (Lecce).  

Watercare’s Central Interceptor project stands as New Zealand’s largest wastewater infrastructure project to date. Its primary purpose is to curtail wastewater overflows into central Auckland waterways while catering to the city’s growth over the next century, as well as providing resiliency for the existing wastewater network. Construction on the Central Interceptor began in 2019 and will be completed in 2026. The 16.2 kilometer tunnel has a 4.5-meter internal diameter and will run from Pt Erin, Herne Bay, across the Manukau Harbour to the Māngere Treatment Plant ranging in depths from 15-100 meters. The main tunnel is intersected by two link sewers, which collect flows from Mt Roskill, Mt Albert and Blockhouse Bay suburbs. The Central Interceptor’s core function involves gathering wastewater from the existing network and transporting it to the Māngere Treatment Plant. New infrastructure also includes construction of 18 permanent shafts, with depths ranging from 11 to 79 meters and diameters spanning from 4.5 to 28 meters. Additionally, numerous connecting sewers, chambers, control structures, air treatment facilities, and a pumping station, housed within a 40-meter-deep shaft, are being built.

Giulia Parlato (Palermo, 1993) is an artist based in London and Rome. She graduated in Photography at the London College of Communication and completed an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Arts in London. Her work analyzes the historical use of images as a document of truth, specifically in its scientific and forensic uses, and challenges this language, creating a new space in which a staged scenes take place. At a national and international level her work has been exhibited in collective and solo exhibitions including Triennale (Milan, 2023), Photo London (2022), Villa Bardini (Florence, 2022), Fotografia Europea (Reggio Emilia, 2022), Mucho Mas (Turin, 2022), Unseen Photo Fair (Amsterdam, 2021) and Gare Du Nord for Paris Photo (Paris 2019). You have received the Luigi Ghirri Award (2022), the BJP International Photography Award Second Place (2020), the Innovate Grant (2020), the Camera Work Award (2020) and the Carte Blanche Éstudiants Award (2019). In 2021 her work was selected by CAMERA for the European Futures Photography program. Her works are preserved in public collections including the Donata Pizzi Collection, Panizzi Library, Palazzo Rasponi.

Alessandro Dandini de Sylva (Rome, 1981) is an artist, curator, and publisher. He has curated exhibitions and publications for cultural institutions such as the MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, the Museo Nazionale Romano and the MACRO Museo di arte contemporanea in Rome, the Centro Arti Visive Pescheria and the Musei Civici in Pesaro, the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in Rome and the Fondazione Ermanno Casoli in Fabriano, SwitchLab in Bucharest and the Italian Cultural Institutes in Bucharest and London. He founded Aniene, a publishing project conceived in collaboration with designer Filippo Nostri, and Istmo, a visual research studio for industrial organizations that combines contemporary photography, documentation of advanced technology projects and artistic experimentation. He is the curator of the photography department at the Pescheria Foundation in Pesaro, the photography consultant at Ghella and the advisor for photography and publishing for the American Academy in Rome.

Nuove avventure sotterranee was born out of the desire to tell the story of our experience as builders in the world through the eyes of a group of Italian artists. The images featured in these books are not ordinary construction site photographs, nor are they intended to be. They are free artistic research with the purpose of freezing the present. They are documents to be preserved for future generations that will mark the change. Basically, we have simply offered places, non-places and cityscapes through which to express a gesture, that of photography. As I write this, I flip through the images in this collection and realize how much beauty can be hidden in our daily adventures.