THE NEW SOUTHERN GATEWAY

摘要

1. Built following on after Tiburtina in Roma, Porta Susa in Torino and Mediopadana in Reggio Emilia, the new Afragola station in Naples constitutes an essential node of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor that connects Helsinki to Malta passing through Brennero, the AV/ AC backbone of Italy and Sicily's major cities. It began operating on 11 June 2017 with 36 trains stopping there a day, the infrastructure will serve a potential 3 million inhabitants. At the same time the building designed by Zaha Hadid Architects revitalises the role of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiano as a major commissioning body able to fuel the production of key architectural buildings in the national and international panorama, as was the case in the past with for example in Firenze Santa Maria Novella, by Giovanni Michelucci (1935), and Roma Termini, by Angiolo Mazzoni (1950). The main body of the building designed by ZHA consists of a structure with dynamic and fluid forms, over 400 metres long, that crosses over the platforms like a great bridge, connecting the areas crossed by the railway lines and thus giving continuity to the road network. The building elevations are characterised by large areas of glazing supported by steel partitions and flush concrete clad in white Corian that creates continuity between matt surfaces and transparent ones. The space that emerges from the design layout is generated, like all the best works by Zaha Hadid Architects, by the movement of routes that interweave and become a true "artificial land" open to the surrounding landscape and conceived for moving freely. The design naturally is not limited to the configuration of architectural forms but defines the layout of the urban context that surrounds it. The station will be completed by 1400 parking spaces, 500 of which are already in place, and 53 places dedicated to taxis and kiss&ride, that also have the advantage of a dedicated lane. There are also eight bus terminals that will be increased to fifteen for inner city and outer city buses.