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The project emerged from a desire to reconnect the rationalist Centro Direzionale with the soul of Naples. We took inspiration from the city’s volcanic topography and historical layers to create a flowing, organic station that contrasts with the rigid urban grid designed by Kenzo Tange. The aim was to introduce warmth, materiality, and public life into an empty and sterile district. The vaulted wooden roof structure evokes classic train stations and the feeling of walking through a forest, bringing nature and humanity back into the city’s artificial core.
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The Centro Direzionale is a highly structured, elevated urban island disconnected from the natural terrain of Naples. Our intervention reintroduces topography, organic form, and natural materials to reknit the station with its context. Through ramps, trees, and shaded plazas, the project establishes a dialogue between ground and platform, past and future. It transforms a sterile business center into a welcoming, flowing space accessible, visible, and emotionally connected to the people of Naples and their heritage.
The design prioritizes sustainability by using glued laminated timber for the main structure, reducing the carbon footprint and introducing a renewable, low-impact material into a hard urban landscape. The wood integrates with existing concrete columns, optimizing material reuse. Natural light, ventilation, and shaded public areas reduce energy needs. The station transforms a concrete piazza into a green, layered landscape. While still under construction, the project reflects Naples’ AAA vision—architecture, art, and archaeology, and has received broad international recognition.
The Naples Central Station at Centro Direzionale reinvents a brutalist urban platform into an organic, accessible transport and public space. Inspired by the contrast between Naples' historic chaos and Tange’s rational grid, we designed a structure that breaks the artificial rigidity of the site. The vaulted timber roof recalls classic train halls while introducing warmth, fluidity, and nature. Vaults are both structural and symbolic; mimicking tree canopies, they evoke a "walk in the woods" in the heart of a mineral business district. The station unfolds as a topographic gesture: ramps, levels, and trees blend into a flowing piazza that feels part of the city. It also responds to the cultural ambition of Naples’ metro network, uniting architecture, art, and archaeology. A ceiling artwork by Adrien Vescovi, made from recycled textiles, adds layers of color and memory. The tunnels include Pompeii-inspired frescoes and vivid signage, engaging travelers in an immersive aesthetic experience. The project’s strength lies in its synthesis of structural innovation, civic presence, and sensorial richness. It reconnects the city with itself through wood, light, and movement.
This station brings light and life into the Centro Direzionale. It transforms an empty, unused space into something poetic, functional, and deeply Neapolitan. A landmark reborn.
Miralles Tagliabue EMBT, founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, is an internationally renowned architecture studio celebrated for its creative synthesis of tradition and innovation. EMBT designs thoughtful, poetic, and context-sensitive projects globally, including significant public and educational buildings across Europe and Asia. With offices in Barcelona, Shanghai, and Paris, EMBT emphasizes collaborative processes and creates architecture that enriches urban experiences, respecting cultural heritage while delivering functional, imaginative solutions.
