entry Aug
2004 update 2014
The Centro Direzionale
The
new Naples Civic Center, the Centro Direzionale,
is visible from almost any point in Naples or from the
bay. Depending on who is doing the talking, you will hear
various descriptions: a futuristic satellite city of
gleaming towers; a white elephant; a sore thumb. It is
—again, depending on the source— just what the city needs,
or else an unacceptable break with the urban history of
the city.
Naples
has a long history of episodes of explosive urban
development. The Spanish were responsible for the first
such episode in modern times when they broke down the old
city walls and built modern (for the 1600s) blocks of
buildings, creating what today are still called "The Spanish Quarters". The
Bourbons did more of the same in the 1700s and 1800s. Then
came the rebuilding of Naples, the risanamento, decades
(1885-1915) of such drastic construction that half the
city had to find another place to live. The Fascists built big in the 1920s
& 30s and the "economic miracle" of the 1950s &
60s was responsible for the overbuilding evident wherever
one looks at the Posillipo or Vomero sections of Naples
these days.
Thus
we come to the 1964 plan to create a new Civic Center in a
relatively undeveloped part of town, the east. This was to
be the first effort in Naples at true skyscraper
technology. The Centro Direzionale follows the
1982 design of prominent Japanese architect, Kenzo Tange,
whose work includes the urban plan for Tokyo in 1960, the
design for the grounds of the Tokyo Olympics of 1964, and,
in Italy, the designs for the Bologne Civic Center and
Fair Grounds in 1975.
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The Centro Direzionale is
more than one square kilometer set in the Poggioreale section of the
city near the central train station. That part of Naples
is, bluntly, the worst part of town; the Center, itself,
is right next door to the large Poggioreale prison, an
institution built almost a century ago for 1100 inmates
but today holding twice that number. The location, thus,
presents some problems with the over-all perception of the
Civic Center, quite apart from aesthetic considerations of
architecture. Occupancy, at least so far, is much lower
than what one might expect for a plan that called for the
displacement, sooner or later, of municipal office space
from their current locations in the traditional center of
town to the new and gleaming
towers, plus relocation of banks and businesses and the
creation of a new resident community—a "neighborhood."
One
interesting plan that fell through was the idea of the
local NATO headquarters, AFSOUTH (Allied Forces Southern
Europe—currently in Bagnoli, on the far western side of
Naples)* to move to the new Centro Direzionale.
The plans were finished and the professional video
presentation looked good. Then there was arson against one
of the buildings in the Center, and some member nations of
NATO simply said, "Look, the mob is trying to burn it
down, and it's next to a prison. We are not moving our troops
and their families in there." (AFSOUTH, thus, changed its
mind and has recently broken ground on a new headquarters
so far out of town in the other direction that they may
have to change the name to AFNORTHWEST PASSAGE.) (update
2010: That is now moot since AFSOUTH now officially calls
itself JFC. No, not the guys that make electronics; that
would be JVC. This one stands for Joint Forces Command.)
*update 2014: Joint Forces Command, formerly AFSOUTH, has moved out of Bagnoli to new premises farther north.
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The layout of the Centro Direzionale is
impressive. There are 18 "islands" of buildings, with
high-rises up to 100 meters. There are office buildings as
well as residential flats. It is, essentially, a small
city: a pedestrian zone at ground level with shops,
restaurants and hotels that are easily accessible. There
is a mammoth underground parking facility with escalators
running up right into the middle of the pedestrian
concourse, an area adorned with fountains, benches,
greenery and even a church (photo, top). The Centro
Direzionale will eventually have its own underground
train station; construction of the new metropolitana
line is inching its way (and if I could say
"millimetering," believe me, I would) in that direction.
All in all, the main problem is one of perception. In spite of the modern trend towards supermarkets, malls, and all–in–one shopping, most Neapolitans still live with the idea of the local neighborhood. They do not willingly go out of town to do their business and do not easily accept the idea of a new, built "neighborhood." That is something that grows over time; you don't just build it.
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