From Naples' first station, built just after Italian Unification, to the building of the new station shortly after WWII, the book describes the complex experience of a place that has become a symbol of modern Naples.
Following the success of the book about Rome’s main station, Archeology at Rome’s Termini Station, here is a new publication in the Grandi Stazioni series. The book is the result of research conducted by the Architecture Faculty of the Second University of Naples. It describes the development of the station in Piazza Garibaldi, from the first building erected in the 19th century to the latest restructuring program still in progress (due for completion in spring 2010). The first part tackles the debate and the problems associated with deciding where to locate the new “eastern gateway” of Naples, and its consequences for the equilibrium of the old city center. It also describes the architectural development of the passenger terminal, including the new features added at the beginning of the new millennium.
The second part describes the railway network in the early 20th century and the town plans associated with the construction of the “Express” line between Rome and Naples, with an analysis of the plans and the transformations which took place between the wars. The third part of the book looks at the post-war years, from reconstruction to the competition of 1954, re-examined on the basis of original testimonials, up to the opening of the new station in 1966. In just over 100 years, Naples’ Central Station has brought together energy, ideas, proposals from intellectuals, town-planners and railway technical experts, and is highly representative of the development of Neapolitan architectural culture. The book, under the scientific supervision of Professor Cettina Lenza of the Faculty of Architecture, with contributions by Ornella Cirillo, Francesca Castanò and Carolina De Falco, is richly illustrated with numerous elevations and maps taken from the Italian State Archives and the Ferrovie dello Stato Archives (many of which are published here for the first time), as well as interesting photographs from the past which document the evolution of the station and its passenger terminal: more than 100 project designs, town-planning studies and historic photographs.