right at the foot of Capodimonte, our project area lies at the edge of the Sanità district, in the northern part of the city.
it is a pre-eminently residential district, in close proximity to former tuff quarries.
primary aim of the project was the creation of an object that could be perceived as a single unity and would work with the peculiar topography of this part of the city. the urban element is here merged, accepted and challenged by the natural element.
the building does not seek to compete with the imposing figure of the San Gennaro dei Poveri hospital, yet it intends to be solid on the ground, accompanying and participating to its ascent towards the Capodimonte hill.
the building is characterised by an irregular shape which seems to be dictated by a series of inputs given to it by the context: from the outside, it is perceived like an object with no shape, registering and resituating everything that happens around it.
the materiality of its brick facades is intended to stress the sense of gravity and fullness, which manifests into apertures that seek to be like voids engraved in this mass.
nevertheless, this perception is completely overturned when entering the building and its courtyards: immediately the visitor is faced with a sense of order, regularity, and lightness, as if in a dimension that is completely detached from anything that happens outside.
the two courtyards appear like the poles of two systems that come into communication in the shape of a scenographic staircase, that aims at recalling and reinterpreting one of the many traditional traits of Neapolitan palaces.
exam day photos by Giuseppe Greppi
