2007

The strategy regarding the Municipality of Naples' proposal to demolish the building facing Piazza Cavour and replace it with a vertical circulation system for the acropolis is twofold: we act upon the existing building to engage with the surrounding urban space, attempting to trigger a series of connections that are currently completely severed. New systems and secondary structures are added to the building's frame—once stripped of all internal and external infill—along with a mechanized vertical circulation system at the rear connected to the subway lines. This creates a framework into which diaphanous, reversible volumes are inserted to form an exhibition and studio system for temporary or permanent functions. Piazza Cavour, currently reduced to a transit hub, is thus complemented by a series of overlapping squares that overlook it. The building is not hypocritically eliminated, but rather turned into a resource and a potential prototype for transformation in similar cases. The project was exhibited at the Church of Donnaromita in Naples in July 2008 and received a mention at the 12th Ischian Meeting of Mediterranean Architecture Ancient/Modern. Landscapes in Transformation following its exhibition at the Aragonese Castle in Ischia (October 5-7, 2007).