University Complex of Monte Sant’Angelo

By Andrea Maglio

At the end of the 1960s, the idea of relocating some university facilities, which had been mainly concentrated in the historic centre up to that point, began to gain ground. The university campus of Monte Sant’Angelo was born on a smaller area than initially planned on the outskirts of the Fuorigrotta neighbourhood, ideally adjacent to the existing Faculty of Engineering. Architects Michele Capobianco and Massimo Pica Ciamarra were joined by structural engineers Elio Giangreco and Renato Sparacio, building services engineers Raffaele Vanoli and Vittorio Betta, and geotechnical engineer Arrigo Croce, all professors at the University of Naples. It is a campus conceived in the Anglo-Saxon manner and, therefore, quite different from the university citadel in the city centre, which mostly occupied existing and adapted spaces. However, the model was updated compared to foreign ones in an attempt to avoid dispersion of the buildings within the overall plan to enhance spaces for social interaction. This goal was achieved by adopting the pathway system as the generative matrix of the composition, drawing on a consolidated ‘urban’ tradition expressed through ‘autonomous’ facades in relation to axes and even a square. In this way, the Corbusian model with isolated and distant buildings was abandoned in favour of a system of relationships capable of connecting the different blocks and preparing the complex for university life. The envisaged pathway system was indeed much more elaborate than what was actually implemented and was based, among other things, on a pedestrian connection to the complex on Via Claudio, built for the Faculty of Engineering. The site where the new campus is located has a significant elevation difference, which facilitates the identification of distinct blocks, even though they are part of a general homogeneous logic. Michele Capobianco, along with Daniele Zagaria, designed the lower part, consisting of the Centri Comuni building, the first lecture hall, and the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, now corresponding to the departments of Economic and Statistical Sciences and Economics, Management, Institutions. Massimo Pica Ciamarra designed the upper part of the complex, including the second lecture hall, sports facilities – which were never realized – and the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical, and Natural Sciences, later divided among the departments of Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Applications "Renato Caccioppoli," Chemical Sciences, and Earth, Environment, and Resources Sciences. As it is closest to the entrance from Via Cintia, the Centri Comuni block represents the most prominent element and predominantly defines the image of the complex. The original design included a ‘double’ facade, articulated with an external grid covered with climbing plants, which was never realized (Mangone 2004, 501). This element, reminiscent of Giuseppe Terragni's work and in line with Peter Eisenman's studies on ‘overlapping’ facades, would have mediated the relationship between the interior and exterior, defining in an original way the true main facade of the entire campus. Although built in 1998, the block still shows its derivation from European architectural culture of the post-war period, especially Scandinavian, which Capobianco had become acquainted with as a recent graduate thanks to a period of work in Stockholm. The interior gallery, on the other hand, refers to the Corbusian concept of promenade architecturale and demonstrates how, even inside, the pathways become the backbone of the design mechanism: connected by ramps, the different walkways of the long gallery are located at different heights and allow for a complete interrelation between spaces (Dardi 1982); characterised by brightly coloured concrete surfaces, they were also meant to be places for resting and socialising. The next block consists of classrooms, formed by geometric prisms with an original rotation of parallelepipeds on the facades, while Pica Ciamarra's ‘cloverleaf’ classrooms, at the top of the complex, present a flexible scheme for merging in the case of events with a higher flow of public. Behind the first lecture hall is the building of the former Faculty of Economics, a lower block articulated around courtyards where spaces for faculty studies prevail over extensive social areas. The design of the former Faculty of Sciences by Pica Ciamarra features buildings arranged parallel to those further downstream but with a completely different logic: the ground level varies significantly and increases towards the north, in order to vary the height of the buildings, with constant-level roofs. Furthermore, unlike the blocks downstream, the design includes a transverse connection element, as in the Aalto-inspired project for the Otaniemi Polytechnic in Helsinki, and a system of vertical connections to integrate horizontal pathways. Finally, as in the University of Calabria project, the Le Corbusier-style rooftop terrace is accessible and enriched with almost metaphysical geometric volumes. Unlike Capobianco's buildings, those designed by Pica Ciamarra are made of plain concrete without colour, following the more orthodox tradition of post-war Brutalism. Conceived as a modern university complex capable of absorbing and renewing the international tradition, but built without some important planned elements, the Monte Sant’Angelo campus defines a model of great interest for the originality of its planimetric system, its adaptability to the location, and the quality of its spaces. The new subway line station will also solve the problem of inadequate transportation and connections, mitigating the isolation that, partly due to the buildings constructed around the lot during the planning and construction phases, has resulted in it becoming an enclosed enclave within its context. Andrea Maglio

At the end of the 1960s, the idea of relocating some university facilities, which had been mainly concentrated in the historic centre up to that point, began to gain ground. The university campus of Monte Sant’Angelo was born on a smaller area than initially planned on the outskirts of the Fuorigrotta neighbourhood, ideally adjacent to the existing Faculty of Engineering. Architects Michele Capobianco and Massimo Pica Ciamarra were joined by structural engineers Elio Giangreco and Renato Sparacio, building services engineers Raffaele Vanoli and Vittorio Betta, and geotechnical engineer Arrigo Croce, all professors at the University of Naples. It is a campus conceived in the Anglo-Saxon manner and, therefore, quite different from the university citadel in the city centre, which mostly occupied existing and adapted spaces. However, the model was updated compared to foreign ones in an attempt to avoid dispersion of the buildings within the overall plan to enhance spaces for social interaction. This goal was achieved by adopting the pathway system as the generative matrix of the composition, drawing on a consolidated ‘urban’ tradition expressed through ‘autonomous’ facades in relation to axes and even a square. In this way, the Corbusian model with isolated and distant buildings was abandoned in favour of a system of relationships capable of connecting the different blocks and preparing the complex for university life. The envisaged pathway system was indeed much more elaborate than what was actually implemented and was based, among other things, on a pedestrian connection to the complex on Via Claudio, built for the Faculty of Engineering. The site where the new campus is located has a significant elevation difference, which facilitates the identification of distinct blocks, even though they are part of a general homogeneous logic. Michele Capobianco, along with Daniele Zagaria, designed the lower part, consisting of the Centri Comuni building, the first lecture hall, and the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, now corresponding to the departments of Economic and Statistical Sciences and Economics, Management, Institutions. Massimo Pica Ciamarra designed the upper part of the complex, including the second lecture hall, sports facilities – which were never realized – and the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical, and Natural Sciences, later divided among the departments of Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Applications "Renato Caccioppoli," Chemical Sciences, and Earth, Environment, and Resources Sciences. As it is closest to the entrance from Via Cintia, the Centri Comuni block represents the most prominent element and predominantly defines the image of the complex. The original design included a ‘double’ facade, articulated with an external grid covered with climbing plants, which was never realized (Mangone 2004, 501). This element, reminiscent of Giuseppe Terragni's work and in line with Peter Eisenman's studies on ‘overlapping’ facades, would have mediated the relationship between the interior and exterior, defining in an original way the true main facade of the entire campus. Although built in 1998, the block still shows its derivation from European architectural culture of the post-war period, especially Scandinavian, which Capobianco had become acquainted with as a recent graduate thanks to a period of work in Stockholm. The interior gallery, on the other hand, refers to the Corbusian concept of promenade architecturale and demonstrates how, even inside, the pathways become the backbone of the design mechanism: connected by ramps, the different walkways of the long gallery are located at different heights and allow for a complete interrelation between spaces (Dardi 1982); characterised by brightly coloured concrete surfaces, they were also meant to be places for resting and socialising. The next block consists of classrooms, formed by geometric prisms with an original rotation of parallelepipeds on the facades, while Pica Ciamarra's ‘cloverleaf’ classrooms, at the top of the complex, present a flexible scheme for merging in the case of events with a higher flow of public. Behind the first lecture hall is the building of the former Faculty of Economics, a lower block articulated around courtyards where spaces for faculty studies prevail over extensive social areas. The design of the former Faculty of Sciences by Pica Ciamarra features buildings arranged parallel to those further downstream but with a completely different logic: the ground level varies significantly and increases towards the north, in order to vary the height of the buildings, with constant-level roofs. Furthermore, unlike the blocks downstream, the design includes a transverse connection element, as in the Aalto-inspired project for the Otaniemi Polytechnic in Helsinki, and a system of vertical connections to integrate horizontal pathways. Finally, as in the University of Calabria project, the Le Corbusier-style rooftop terrace is accessible and enriched with almost metaphysical geometric volumes. Unlike Capobianco's buildings, those designed by Pica Ciamarra are made of plain concrete without colour, following the more orthodox tradition of post-war Brutalism. Conceived as a modern university complex capable of absorbing and renewing the international tradition, but built without some important planned elements, the Monte Sant’Angelo campus defines a model of great interest for the originality of its planimetric system, its adaptability to the location, and the quality of its spaces. The new subway line station will also solve the problem of inadequate transportation and connections, mitigating the isolation that, partly due to the buildings constructed around the lot during the planning and construction phases, has resulted in it becoming an enclosed enclave within its context.

From the volume "Passeggiando per la Federico II" (second updated edition) edited by Alessandro Castagnaro - photographs by Roberto Fellicò - FedOAPress