E4. ARQUITECTURA: EL METRO DE NAPOLES

El metro de Nápoles ofrece un viaje de arte moderno en quince estaciones. Por un euro y 30 centavos, el precio de un trayecto, los viajeros del metro de Nápoles podrán admirar obras de importantes artistas contemporáneos, gracias al proyecto “Las Estaciones del Arte” concebido por conocidos arquitectos y pintores de la gran metrópoli del sur de Italia.

En la estación Toledo, considerada la más bella de Europa por el diario británico The Daily Telegraph, uno se siente como sumergido en el Mediterráneo. Se desciende en las entrañas de la tierra, rodeado de mosaicos de todos los tonos de azul, hasta llegar a una monumental sala iluminada por un “Cráter de Luz” que la conecta al mundo exterior. La recientemente rediseñada estación de Toledo en Nápoles te deja boquiabierto. Las paredes, techos y otras superficies están recubiertas de una multitud de mosaicos azules y blancos de Bisazza. Al adentrarte en la estación parece que te hayas sumergido en el océano o que estés perdido en mitad del espacio. 

Con “Olas”, la pared sumergida del artista catalán Oscar Tusquets Blanca, al lado de las escaleras mecánicas, junto con la iluminación artística de Robert Wilson, los transeúntes pueden introducirse dentro una obra artística.

El llamado Cráter de Luz conecta al pasajero que se encuentra a más de 40 metros de profundidad con el mundo exterior gracias a un sugestivo juego de luces.

Las estaciones, con cerca de 200 obras de arte, han sido concebidas como un amplio plan urbanístico, que incluye el desarrollo del sistema de transporte público para aliviar el caótico tráfico de la ciudad sureña por sus embotellamientos.

La estación “Universitá” (Universidad) es la única concebida por un único artista, el célebre diseñador egipcio de origen británica Karim Rashid, uno de los creadores más en boga por su genio creativo.

Capaz de crear mobiliario, iluminación, complementos para la casa, arquitectura de espacios, relojes, Rashid, que creció en Canadá y se formó en Italia, utiliza obras gráficas de colores vivos, pantallas LED que proyectan palabras universales para hacer referencia al conocimiento, ya que es una estación muy transitada por estudiantes.

Por las escaleras se encuentran los retratos abstractos del poeta Dante Alighieri y su musa Beatriz y los colores empleados, rosa y lima, indican la dirección y guían a los visitantes a su destino.

Se busca que el pasajero viva una experiencia sensorial y estética y que los andenes, con ilustraciones y palabras nacidas en el último siglo, proporcionen un “estado mental” y sirvan de inspiración para la jornada.

El renombrado crítico italiano Achille Bonito Oliva, fue el encargado por la empresa de transporte local de seleccionar a los artistas de todo el mundo, entre ellos arquitectos y diseñadores.

“Se trata de combinar belleza con transporte. A los artistas les pedimos que realicen una obra que se integre a la estación“, explicó en una charla con la AFP.

No se trata de “decorar” simplemente un espacio, sino de suscitar en el pasajero sensaciones así como de despertar el interés por obras contemporáneas, convirtiendo el arte en un “viajero” con función social, explicó el crítico.

Para el director de la empresa MetroNapoli, Giannegidio Silva, es importante ofrecer arte a los habitantes de Nápoles, una ciudad azotada por el desempleo y la pobreza, emblema de las contradicciones de la península.

La idea, lanzada en el 2000, contó un presupuesto de 1.500 millones de euros, la mitad financiados por la Unión Europea.

El lunes pasado fue inaugurada la decimosexta estación, en la céntrica plaza Garibaldi, realizada por el arquitecto francés Dominique Perrault, creador de la biblioteca François-Mitterrand de París.

“El metro de Nápoles ahora es el más bello del mundo“, comentó a la AFP, el alcalde de la ciudad sureña, Luigi de Magistris.

La “Estación” del italiano Pistoletto, entre los fundadores del llamado “Arte Povera” (arte pobre) en los años sesenta, juega con el pasajero gracias a sus famosos espejos, en los que los viajeros penetran literalmente en ellos.

“Es la relación entre vida y arte, arte y estación”, comentó el artista, de 80 años.

Linea 1

Garibaldi

Dominique Perrault, the French architect and urban planner of Garibaldi  station, was also entrusted with the redesign of the square above it. The structure is conceived as a single, bright space traversed by spectacular intersections of the “suspended” escalators.

The transparent glass roof allows natural light to reach almost the platform level, about 40 feet deep. The interior is strongly influenced by the choice of steel - satin or shiny and reflective – which is contrasted only by some bright orange elements. 

The two installations by Michelangelo Pistoletto, one of the protagonists of the international art scene, are placed just before the last flights of stairs to the trains, one on the side of the arrival platform, the other on the platform towards Piscinola.

On steel mirror panels you can see full size silkscreened images of passengers, waiting or walking. Static images of art and ever-changing reflections from reality coexist incessantly in this work, which thus becomes, as explained by the author, "a door connecting art and life."

En la parte inferior de las escaleras mecánicas de la estación de Garibaldi, a una profundidad de 40 metros, bajo un dosel hecho de tubos de metal, el nombre “Stazione” Pistoletto, uno de los pilares del movimiento contemporáneo “Arte Povera”, presenta un gran espejo, imágenes de los pasajeros en espera, hablar, Mira.

Presente en la inauguración, el artista 80 años dice que maduró durante mucho tiempo un trabajo “en la idea de la estación” : “pasajeros/espectadores entrar en la obra, ni un momento (….), Es una relación entre vida y arte, arte y la estación de tren”.

Universita

Pavimento, paredes, Sube las escaleras hacia la salida, uno adornado con el retrato del poeta Dante Alighieri, otros que su musa Beatriz : todo debe competir para hacer vivir al una viajero “experiencia sensorial y estética”. Es Achille Bonito Oliva, Coordinador artístico con la empresa que gestiona el metro, que ha elegido para cada uno de los artistas, arquitectos y diseñadores, Italiana e internacional. “Es un encuentro entre la belleza y el transporte. Le pedimos a los artistas a crear una obra que encaja en la estación de”, Explica a la AFP. Aquí no hay cuestión de “decorar” simplemente el espacio, pero para crear “un museo obligatorio”, con el fin de generar a partir de la “familiaridad” entre los viajeros que no van al Museo y arte “ese viaje” y tiene “una función social”, Añade al crítico de arte. En una ciudad agobiada por el desempleo y la pobreza, Es importante que “poner el arte en la vida de las personas”, Agrega el Director de MetroNapoli, Giannegidio Silva.

Lanzado en los primeros 2000 y con un presupuesto de 1 billón de euros, proyecto, financiado por Europa, alcanzó el lunes una nueva dimensión con la inauguración en el lugar Garibaldi de los siglos XVI “la estación de arte”, antes de su apertura al público a finales de diciembre. Arquitecto francés Dominique Perrault, Creador de Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand en París, Quién fue responsable de su diseño. Se cree que un centro multimodal de conectar la estación de tren, dos líneas de metro existentes y tráfico regional, la estación de Garibaldi se espera duplicar el número de usuarios diarios, Actualmente valorados en aproximadamente 200.000.

A station offering a new sensory and esthetic experience, characterized by soft volumes, vivacious florescent colors and innovative materials which can properly accommodate expressive and poetic needs; a transit area capable of touching the emotional sphere of the passenger, bringing beauty and pleasure into the daily commute - these were among the objectives at the heart of the University Station-Line 1 Project of the unparalleled architect and designer Karim Rashid.

With university students and all metro users in mind, the Anglo-Egyptian architect envisioned spaces “that embody the knowledge and language of the new digital age, that transmit the ideas of simultaneous communication, innovation and mobility, ideas which characterize their ongoing Third Technical Revolution”. Thus, from the moment they descend the stairs leading to the station, visitors find themselves surrounded by a multitude of words coined during the past fifty years, words such as “virtual”, “network”, “operation”, “portable”, “database”, “interface”, “software” printed in pink and green on a ceramic background.

The ample and luminous atrium of the station lends a “softening” friendly esthetic which is spectacular at the same time thanks to the profusion of vivacious colors and digital images covering all wall and floor surfaces as well as the sensual qualities of the materials such as its perfectly smooth Corian walls or reflective steel of the vaults. But the color contrast is also utilized to facilitate the circulation of passengers: the two dominant colors fuschia-pink and lime green indicate the respective directions towards the platforms for Piscinola and for Garibaldi.

Beyond the turnstiles and Ticket Booth, on two large cylindrical pillars (Conversational profile), particular modeling of the volumes allow profiles of faces to be seen from all vantage points, a metaphor of dialogue and communication among human beings. Ikon, a sinuous sculpture in satin-finished steel, recalls human intelligence and in particular the synapses of our brain.

Moving towards the escalator leading to the Piscinola Direction platform, we are accompanied by light which springs from the translucent crystal ceiling panels, silkscreened in pink and light blue with images from Rashid’s repertoire. The same decorative motif is repeated on the walls surrounding the descent. On the -1 mezzanine level, the colors of the flooring change from black with light blue, yellow and green flecks, as found in the atrium, to vivacious orange-pink tones. Pink is also found in the background of the circular light box in which bears a yellow cross.

Arriving on the -2 level, our attention is captured by the colors and shapes of the digital graphic motif which is also represented in the large floor tiles thus creating a fascinating pattern with three-dimensional effects in yellow, pink and light blue. In addition to the presence of two rectangular light boxes, on this level, one finds a spectacular surprise: at the height of the steps, giant images of Dante Alighieri and Beatrice - a homage of Rashid to the father of Italian literature in order to underline the importance and the vitality of the link between humanistic culture and contemporary language, particularly important in a city of strong academic tradition such as Naples.

One then arrives to the platform level, where behind the curved benches, which recall the curvilinear design so treasured by the artist-architect, there are four large panels made with the lenticular H3D system. The three-dimensional figures reproduced on the panels seem to move and rotate in the space as the passenger passes by. Images in movement which emphasize and enhance the dynamic heart of the metro.

  

Municipio

When work is complete, the Town Hall project undertaken by Portuguese architects Àlvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura will bring metro lines 1 and 6 together in one large transport hub. This new underground space will serve as a pedestrian link between the port and the historical area of the city, while urban planning at surface level will enhance the perspective axis from the Maritime Station at the Town Hall to the San Martino hill. 

The Fountain of Neptune, a large marble group created by the work of Domenico Fontana, Michelangelo Naccherino and Pietro Bernini up till the end of the 1500s and subsequently by Cosimo Fanzago, has already been relocated to the square in front of the Town Hall. 

The large Municipio transit area will incorporate and showcase the exceptional archaeological finds unearthed during the excavation work for the station in one of the largest archaeological investigations of the last decade. The antiquity unveiled by the excavations begins with the ancient port of Neapolis, which stood in a small inlet now buried under part of the present-day square. The excavations ass brought to light the sea bottom, sunken ships, a large wharf of the Augustan age, and traces of the occupation of the coast in the Hellenistic and Imperial ages. We continue with extraordinary remains of buildings of the Angevine period erected at the same time as Castelnuovo in the late thirteenth century, and the outer fortifications of the castle, built under king Alphonso V of Aragona and then the Spanish viceroys, with the towers of the Molo and the Incoronata. The latter is already visible today on the landing of the Line 1 station. 

The constant dialogue between modern architecture and existing historical structures salvaged inside the station is the guiding theme of the project by the two Portuguese architects, featuring clean lines and skilful attention to finishings in lava stone and white plaster, in which the lessons of the great masters of the Modern movement are reflected in its geometric lines. 

The station contains a single, large contemporary art installation: Passages by Michal Rovner (Tel Aviv, 1957), a "video-fresco" - as defined by Achille Bonito Oliva, artistic coordinator of the Art Stations - in which images from five high-precision projectors blend with images drawn in pastel and painted with water colours by the artist directly onto the long, white wall of the atrium (37.70m x 4.00m).   

Toledo

“Dentro del programa napolitano de estaciones de metro encargadas a prestigiosos arquitectos internacionales nos ha correspondido la de Toledo, con un acceso satélite en el centro de los Quartieri Spagnoli. Somos también responsables de la urbanización de las plazas situadas sobre estos accesos. La característica más sobresaliente de Toledo es el inmenso cráter que conecta el nivel de la plaza con el del gran hall situado unos 38 metros más abajo. El tramo final de la Avenida Díaz, ubicado sobre la estación, se convierte en plaza peatonal, donde, entre otras funciones, se da cobijo al mercadillo actual mediante un bosque de paraguas rígidos. Un atractivo particular del proyecto es la estrecha colaboración con los prestigiosos artistas plásticos que han sido invitados” (Oscar Tusquets Blanca).

The project of the Catalan architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca also affected the area above, transformed into pedestrian zone and upgraded aesthetically.

The communication between internal and external space is entrusted to the skylight-structures-that, from the street, carry the sunlight in the rooms below.

On the first undergound floor the remains of the walls of the Aragonese period are integrated into the architectural design, while the cast of a plowed field of the Neolithic, found during the excavations of the station is displayed at the Station Museum, in "Stazione Neapolis" in the corridor connecting with the National Archaeological Museum.

In the coatings of this first level black predominates, an allusion to the asphalt of the contemporary city, which enhances the appearance of large mosaics by William Kentridge. The first is a long procession of dark figures, many of them inspired by the history of the city of Naples, led through music by the patron saint, San Gennaro. The background on which all the characters seem to pace slowly is the project for the Central Railroad for the city of Naples, 1906 (Naples Procession) which is also the title of the work. The second mosaic, located above the escalators, is titled Remediation of the slums of Naples in relation to the railway station, 1884 (Naples Procession). This time the design used for the background of the work is the famous first project for a subway in Naples, created by the versatile Lamont-Young.

Going down to another level, upholstery colors change and we see a bright yellow reminiscent of the warm colors of the earth and the Neapolitan tuff, up to the level 0, or the sea level, indicated by the transition to spectacular mosaics of a blue which is becoming more intense as we go deeper. 

This brings us to a monumental underground room, dominated by the charm of the oval mouth of theCrater de luz, a large cone that crosses in depth all levels of the station, connecting the street level with the spectacular hall built 40 meters underground. Looking inside you can recognize at the other end the sun and a fascinating interplay of LEDs governed by the software programmed by Robert Wilson (Relative light).

On the walls of the hall "underground" we can admire the Olas, waves in relief designed by Oscar Tusquets Blanca, while proceeding within the tunnel overpass, we are surrounded by panels of the Sea by Robert Wilson, By the sea ... you and me, this is their title, light box with LED light made using the lens.

Men at work, a series of photos by Achille Cevoli on the walls near the fixed stairs, is dedicated to the theme of factory work, a tribute to those who made the excavation of the tunnels and the construction of the stations.

The second exit of Toledo station in largo Montecalvario is also enriched with works of art by internationally renowned artists.

Two long light-boxes by Oliviero Toscani run along  the moving walkways connecting the two exits. The work, entitled Razza Umana, is part of a photographic study on the morphology of human beings. Many of the photos included  in the Neapolitan installation, in some cases depicting the faces of public figures, have been shot in the squares of the city, others in other parts of Italy or the world, “to see - as explained by the same author – how we are, what face do we have, to understand the differences.  We take somatic fingerprints and capture the faces of humanity ”.

On the walls above the long stairway that leads to the upper levels black panels are installed with mirror silver typefaces by the American artist Lawrence Weiner, one of the leading exponents of conceptual art, which has made of the graphic value of the word its privileged means of expression. Molten copper poured on the rim of the bay of Naples (Rame fuso colato sulle rive del golfo di Napoli) is the epigrammatic phrase, in English and Italian, that Weiner offers us in this case and which also gives its title to the work.  In it, the figurative force of verbal expression is accompanied by the presence of the graphic sign of a curved line, which seems to recall,  synthesizing it, the shape of the gulf.

Of an intense theatrical dramatic force is the installation of nine large portraits in black and white made by one of the most charismatic personalities of the contemporary scenario, Shirin Neshat, visual artist and filmmaker of Iranian origin.  For this work Neshat has chosen for the first time in her career Western subjects,  related to the environment of the Neapolitan theater, particularly to the Teatro Nuovo which is located just a few steps from Montecalvario, and the Teatro Instabile.  Among them we can recognize the actresses Cristina Donadio, Antonella Morea, Giovanna Giuliani and the artistic director of the Teatro Instabile, Michele Del Grosso. The title of the work – for which Shirin Neshat has partnered with the Neapolitan photographer Luciano Romano – is  Il teatro è vita. La vita è teatro - Don’t ask where the love is gone and explicits as much the inspiration to the correspondence relationship between the theatrical fiction and real life, as the desire to represent, through nine different expressions of the body, the feeling of loss and separation.

The Flying - Le tre finestre, by Ilya ed Emilia Kabakov, in ceramic of Faenza, is a large, airy panoramic vision that sees human beings soar in the sky with flocks of birds and airplanes. The choice of the subject has been explained by the couple of artists in this way: “The main problem of the people who come into a subway station and go down under the ground is that they lose the vision of the heaven that is over their heads”. Their work therefore returns to the visitor, through the images of the art, the lost view of the sky, giving a sense of freedom and happy lightness.

For the station entrance level Francesco Clemente, among the leaders of the world's art scene since the 80s with the art movement of Transavantgard, has realized Engiadina, a spectacular work in mosaic and ceramic, more than sixteen meters long, depicting a mountain landscape crossed by a “Clemente yellow” ceramic band, on whose background there is a parade procession of more than forty female figures, inspired by ancient Minoan era images of dancers found in the island of Crete. “The title of my mosaic – said Clemente – refers to the Engadine valley in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland, attended by the philosopher Nietzsche and the artist Segantini. I chose this valley because it is the last place where the Mediterranean light stops”. To realize Engiadina the Neapolitan artist, who has been living in New York for many years, has worked with the master potters of Vietri sul Mare and with Bruno Amman, specialist in stone mosaic, that, to achieve the full range of colours and light effects and the refined work, has selected more than one hundred different species of marble from around the world. 

Dante

The station in Piazza Dante was inaugurated on March 27 2002. The plans of the architect Gae Aulential so concerned the redesign of the square with respect to its 18th century buildings. The etnean stone flooring and cubic tiles follow the architectural designs of Vanvitelli, and the entrances to the station, in clear crystal and steel, were built in order to ensure visibility of the hemicycle from all sides.

The interior of the station is covered with large white glass panels with steel studs and house the works of some well known figures of international contemporary art.

In the atrium of the station are two canvasses by Carlo Alfano; Light-Grey, from 1982, andFragments of an Anonymous Self-Portrait, from 1985. Above the stairs which lead down to the lower level Joseph Kosuth, one of the fathers of conceptual art, places his work These Visible Things, made up of a passage from the Convivio of Dante Alighieri, “written” with white neon tubes.

The wall of the lower level is occupied along its entire length by they Untitled of Jannis Kounellis: large steel panelling on which putrelle similar to rails have been mounted, blocking numerous pairs of mens and womens shoes, a toy train, an overcoat, and a hat.

Continuing on down towards the platforms, above the escalators we find two versions of Intermediterraneo by Michelangelo Pistoletto, a reflective work which traces the outline of the Mediterranean Basin.

Lastly, Universe without bombs, kingdom of Flowers, 7 red Angels by Nicola De Maria, a long mosaic that stretches from the floor up to the ceiling, is a dance consisting of a multitude of small protruding geometric shapes and seven large colourful ovoids.

Museo

Built according to the designs of the architect Gae Aulenti and inaugurated in April 2001, the station is presented as a sequence of essential volumes of red plaster and vesuvian stone that remind us of different street level, evoking through its colour and materials the nearby National Archeological Museum. The interior, like in Dante station, is characterised by white glass facing and steel finishing.

The atrium of the station houses a fibreglass cast, created by the Naples Academy of Fine Arts, of the Farnese Hercules, while just inside the secondary entrance is a bronze cast of the monumental Horse Head called "Carafa".

Moving through the hallways towards the National Archeological Museum, the black and white photographs of Mimmo Iodice anticipate the voyage to the ancient world with Anamnesis and with the series of Athletes and Dancers, works in which the Neapolitan master evokes the famous sculptures from the Villa of the Papyruses of Herculaneum and kept in the nearby museum.

In the upper entrance is located the bronze reproduction of Laocoön, that the Historic Chiurazzi foundry created based upon the ancient chalk cast kept in the Gipsoteca of the Naples Academy of Fine Arts.  Behind the sculpture the large black and white photographs of Mimmo Jodice re-examine and enlarge details of the work, offering new suggestions for its interpretation.

The connecting corridor with the National Archeological Museum houses “Neapolis Station”, the didactic exposition on archaeological sites discovered during the course of excavation work during the construction of Line 1,  and in particular the stations of Municipio, Toledo; Università and Duomo.

The archaeological remains belonged to two primary settlements: Partenope, founded by Cuman colonists on Pizzofalcone Rock around the middle of the 7th Century before the common era, and Neapolis, erected between via Foria and Corso Umberto between the end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth centuries BCE. 

The corridor that connects Museo Station with Cavour Station on Line 2 houses a selection of works by four artists, all from Campania and different generations, among the movers and shakers of modern photography.

Luciano D’Alessandro is present with nine works which highlight some the most significant moments of his career as a photographic journalist, characterized by a constant and empathetic attention to the human condition, from Vendor of Small Paper Birds, made in 1953, to Cemetery of the Normandy Landings, Saint Laurent, from 1994.

Proceeding down the corridor, we come across India ’70 by Fabio Donato, a series of shots taken during a youthful voyage in India.  Also on display are three works which bear witness to close relationship between the Neapolitan photographer and Neapolitan art and theatre: Be Quick, with the gallery owner Lucio Amelio in front of the famous work by Andy Warhol, Eduardo and Masaniello, which captures a historic theatrical performance from 1976 starring Mariano Rigillo.

The Polyptychs of Antonio Biasucci incorporates more photos into a single work in which the artist offers us a closer perception of things, almost in direct contact with their skin and bodies, as if to rediscover the secret of primeval physicality.

At the end of the artistic itinerary leading to line 2, there are photographs by Raffaela Mariniello, from which emerge the image of silent and motionless suburbs.  Hand-me-down Amusement Park Ride, On the Beach, Dresser, and Frames isolate the particulars on which the focus lens has stopped, and these convey not so much the a fragment of life, so much as an image gifted with its own autonomy and an accomplished formal organisation.

Materdei

Materdei Station was planned by Atelier Mendini, as was Salvator Rosa Station.  With its opening in 2003, a new vitality and prestige was thus conferred on Piazza Scipione Ammirato, transformed into a pedestrian area, enriched with green spaces, new urban amenities and works of arts, such as Carpe Diem, the ironic sculpture in coloured bronze by Luigi Serafini and the ceramic reliefs which cover the external elevator, the work of Lucio Del Pezzo.  Another interesting sight is the entrance which is covered by mosaic and presided over by a large green and yellow star.

 The steel and coloured glass spire, quite similar to the ones at Salvator Rosa Station, accentuates the piazza and lightens up the entrance hall of the station, where green and blue tones predominate.  The monumental mosaic by Sandro Chia with marine representations covers the base of the spire inside the station, while on a white wall are the striking solid geometric designs of Ettore Spalletti.

 The ramp which leads down the lower levels passes underneath mosaics with ceramic reliefs by Luigi Ontani, a great marine expanse in which fantastic creatures and Neapolitan people splash around with a Pulcinella with the face of the artist.

 On the track level, just after getting off the escalator, we find the refined drawings on wood panels by Domenico Bianchi, while the entire central corridor is covered by the extremely colourful Wall Drawings by Sol LeWitt, the father of minimal art, and creator of the fibreglass sculpture which is found at the end of the corridor.

 Lastly, both platforms are enriched by the coloured silkscreens of Mathelda Balatresi, Anna Gili, Stefano Giovannoni, Robert Gliglorov, Denis Santachiara, Innocente and George Sowden.

  

Salvator Rosa

The station, planned by Atelier Mendini and opened to the public in 2001, was brought about through the close collaboration between architects and artists: the works of art, inside the extensive terraced gardens, dialogue with the architectural spaces and testimony of the past. The result, as noted by Alessandro Mendini himself, is a global aesthetic work that profoundly involves the citizen, and turns their daily life into a stage.

The area surrounding the station has benefited from the extensive revitalisation efforts which have returned the remains of a Roman bridge back its past splendour, as well as a graceful neoclassical chapel. It has also underlined the surrounding residential buildings, transforming them into works of art thanks to artist such as Mimmo Rotella, Ernesto Tatafiore, Mimmo Paladino, Renato Barisanie Gianni Pisani.

The different levels of the park are also interconnected by means of a long external escalator, which leads to games terrace, planned by Salvatore Paladino and Mimmo Paladino. On the ground, three playable games are made of volcanic stone inlayed with travertine marble: “Tris”, “Bell”, and “Maze”. Calling us to play also are the light-hearted sculptures by Salvatore Paladino. In the same terrace, albeit in a more removed corner, is found the monumental “hand” by Mimmo Paladino. The entire outdoors itinerary is punctuated by the works of many influential contemporary artists: Renato Barisani, Augusto Perez, Lucio Del Pezzo, Nino Longobardi, Riccardo Dalisi, Alex Mocika, Ugo Marano.

The station building itself is characterised by a fantastical eclecticism. The aboveground section, designed along simple yet forceful lines and faced with golden marble, evokes in the motif of the nearby Roman bridge in its succession of extensive arcades, while the steel and coloured glass spire transport us into a science-fiction future.

Along the walk from the atrium to the platform, it is possible to admire the works of Raffaella Nappo, Enzo Cucchi, LuCa, Santolo De Luca, Quintino Scolavino, Natalino Zullo. Perino&Vele, Anna Sargenti.

The station is also equipped with a second exit below via Salvator Rosa (opened in 2002), the presence of which is indicated by another spire by the Atelier Mendini, placed in the centre of a square. The base of the spire is covered in ceramic reliefs by Enzo Cucchi, refiguring a few icons of the Neapolitan imagination, while not far off, Lello Esposito’s Pulcinella, with an outward curiosity “looks out over the street, and observes the world and life”.

Behind the Pulcinella, the residential building which was inhabited by Giovanni Capurro, composer of ‘O sole mio, is enriched by coloured banners and by scenes of rain and golden rays, created by Mimmo Paladino.

Quattro Giornate 

The building of the station, which was designed by the architect Domenico Orlacchio and inaugurated in 2001, gave an entirely new look to Piazza Quattro Giornate. This included providing new gathering areas with green spaces. Besides these developments, there is a conspicuous continuity between the works of art located within the station, and those located in the area outside: the great metal sculpture of Renato Barisani, and the two bronzes of athletes by Lydia Cottone, placed between the garden’s flowerbeds.

The station is- like the piazza surrounding it- named for the days of the uprising that freed Naples from Nazi occupation. The grand entrance hall houses paintings and reliefs in bronze by Nino Longobardi, inspired by the Neapolitan resistance. Descending down towards the platforms, we find hunting scenes and “warriors” by Sergio Fermariello, the sculpture made of crushed sheets of aluminium of Baldo Diodato, and Sabe que la lucha es cruel, by Anna Sargenti.

The way up from the platform features three large reliquaries by Umberto Manzo, attached the wall by iron beams, a giant photographic image by Betty Bee confined to a light box, an oil on canvas by Maurizio Cannavacciuolo, called Love against nature, arriving finally at Fighters by Marisa Albanese, four white feminine sculptures which honour the resistance of the Four Days of Naples.

Vanvitelli

Planned by the architect Michele Capobianco and opened to the public in 1993, Vanvitelli station was restyled between 2004 and 2005 (thanks to Lorenzo and Michel Capobianco, as well as the artistic advice of Achille Bonito Oliva), renovating the station’s large interior in order to house works by eight masters of modern art.

Luminous internal spaces are characterised by careful and sensible use of colours, ranging from blue to yellow, from lilac to various shades of grey.

The dazzling entrance hall features a work by Giulio Paolini, a giant boulder that appears to be on the verge of shattering its transparent enclosure.  The two lateral corridors house on one side the long stripe by Vettor Pisani- an enigmatic and suggestive synthesis of images from differents epochs and styles- and on the other side photographs of the architecture of the city of Naples by Gabriele Basilicoand Olivo Barbieri.

Unfolding upon the blue vault of the lower floor is the spectacular neon blue spiral of Mario Merz.  The work- designed by the artist shortly before his death- runs along the vertical wall with a theme of prehistoric animals.  Two large steel stars by Gilberto Zorio are attached to the side walls, filling the station’s space with an interplay of fullness and emptiness.

The “mouths of light” of Gregorio Botta, located at the intersection between the “Garibaldi” and “Piscinola” routes, are an invitation to slow down and have a look inside of the eight cylinders. On the platform floor, the two large mosaics by Isabella Ducrot draw the attention of the travellers to the chromatic and sensory qualities of the materials used in its execution.

  

Rione Alto

The station’s second exit was inaugurated in December 2002, joining the art stations through the presence of the works of renowned international artists and those of young emerging Neapolitan artists. The outside layout, with glass and metal cupolas corresponding to each entrance, is further enriched by a mosaic by Achille Cevoli.

In the entrance hall is Wall drawings by David Tremlett, with their geometric forms running the length of the walls.  Then, between the conveyor belts and the escalators, travellers come across seven panels by the Neapolitan Giuseppe Zevola.  This is then followed by a sequence of obsessively reiterated faces by Katharina Sieverding and Rem and Jsr, the two light-boxes of the couple Bianco-Valente (Giovanna Bianco and Pino Valente), which loom over the traveller from the tops of the vaults of the gallery leading to the tracks.  

After finishing the descent, the footballers in action by Marco Anelli accompany the traveller to the platforms, in addition to the permanent exposition of emerging artists selected by Paola Guadagnino:Pennacchio Argentato, Donatella Di Cicco, Danilo Donzelli, Pina Gigi, Ivan Malerba e Marco Zezza.

  

Linea 6

  

Mergellina

Mergellina station, designed by Studio Protec, opened to the public in February 2007. The station is particularly noteworthy for its slanting lift, which runs parallel to the escalator. 

The entrance hall, designed by Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani, is a large rectangular space, with sidewalls covered by two enormous mosaics by Gerhard Merz, which seem to announce the passage from the station’s interior to the light of open space through its light and “atmospheric” colours.

The gates are the work of Alan Fletcher, an important figure in international graphic arts, who recently passed away.  With his usual elegant simplicity, the English artist created a pattern through the intersection and repetition of the words “metropolitana mergellina”, carved into the metallic surface of the gate.

Lala

The building housing the Lala station is covered in travertine slabs, and similar to the external layouts, was designed by Studio Protec, (Uberto Siola, Luigi Milano, Luigi Pisciotti, Dante Rabitti, Federica Visconti).  Located alongside Largo Lala, the building perfectly compliments the circular perimeter of the piazza.

The interior of the station houses the works of five modern photographers.  The Brazilian Salvino Campos is present with Untitled 12/La Habana 2002, centred on an immobile antique car, and Capoeira, Salvador, Bahia 2004, which captures the dynamism of a young male body engaged in an old South American dance.

The human form is praised in Femme Terre, 1998-1999, by the Senegalese Ousmane Ndiaye Dago:  his female nudes, covered with a clay-like layer that makes them resemble living sculptures, recall the harmonious composedness of classical figures through the movements of their shoulders and their raised arms.

At the end of the narrow corridor leading to the platform for Mostra, we see an work  which exerts a somewhat disturbing influence on the viewer: a screaming woman wearing a veil portrayed by the Neapolitan photographer Monica Biancardi.

In both the images produced by Luca Campigotto and Vicenzo Castella, the frames are dominated by industrial landscapes frozen in time, focusing our gaze on the current urban situation in Naples.

The only artist represented at Lala through an artistic installation in Nanni Balestrini, with his Allucco, an explosion of splinters, mirrors, and fragments of words.

Augusto

Augusto Station, designed by Studio Protec (Uberto Siola, Luigi Milano, Luigi Pisciotti, Dante Rabitti, Federica Visconti), and opened to the public in February 2007, is a building faced with sections of circles, looking out over Largo Veniero with a row of pillars.

The first works that one encounters when descending towards the trains for Mostra are the ceramic reliefs of Luisa Rabbia. In one of the corridors leading to the platforms, Franco Scognamiglio installed a series of light boxes dedicated to the life of Galileo. Proceeding onwards into the interior of this “theatre of the memory” of sorts, the travellers are progressively engaged by the strong symbolic nature of the environment surrounding them.

The dramatic atmosphere of the city’s outskirts come to life in the ambient installation by Botto&Bruno, which fully occupies the other access corridor leading to the platform.

If we come down through the entrance towards the Mergellina train, we encounter The Milky Way, a lively mosaic with a relief in ceramic by Cristina Crespo. Meanwhile, the platform floor features mosaics by Carmine Rezzuti and Matteo Fraterno. The first depicts, against the backdrop of a fiery sky, a roaring black panther guarding Mount Vesuvius; in the second a red vortex imposes a lively spinning movement to the entire work.

Mostra

Travellers are greeted by the black and white photographs of Gabriele Basilico, whose shots render homage to the monumental splendour of the architecture of the Mostra d’Oltremare.

In the large entry hall, three large mosaics made by Costantino Buccolieri are flanked the work of one of the greatest masters of 19th century Italy, Mario Sironi (Sassari 1885 – Milano 1961).  Furthermore, in the corridor which connects the station with the Cumana line, travellers can admire the photography of Pino Musi.

Alongside the three stairways that connect the entry hall to the platform floor, we come across Monumento a G.P., in which the Neapolitan Gianni Pisani develops the theme of “Suicide of the Artist”, the large feminine face drawn by Marisa Merz, and the abstract composition of Carla Accardi.