Palazzo Pecoraro-Albani

by Alessandro Castagnaro

The site of the Department of Law in Via Porta di Massa was dedicated to Antonio Pecoraro-Albani in 2008.
He was the dean from 1986 to 1993 and was determined to ensure that the new building, intended for multifunctional activities, would host in one place the Law studies that were spread across various locations of the University.
The building, designed by Michele Cennamo, a professor of Architecture at Federico II, was constructed between 1990 and 1992.
It represents the thirteenth sector and the most recent intervention of the reconstruction plan for the Porto, Mercato, and Pendino neighbourhoods approved in 1946, under the leadership and coordination of Luigi Cosenza.
The new site was constructed in an area not affected by the post-unification redevelopment.
It suffered heavy damage during World War II and has since faced a lack of cohesive urban design and street layouts, characterized by a puzzle-like arrangement of 19th-century buildings and the university office buildings designed by Luigi Moretti.
In this context, Cennamo designed a strong and partially disruptive architecture, both in terms of its volumetric dominance over existing structures in height and the expressive language adopted.
As noted, the building is formally autonomous and representative, serving as a focal point of attraction and a point of cohesion for the entire coastal curtain.
The building, with a simple plan enclosed in a square defined by a regular structural grid of metal pillars, contrasts with an articulated volumetric composition characterized by three distinct buildings: a square one representing the foundational base, an overlying glass tower supported by two visible reinforced concrete cylinders – reminiscent of the fortified towers of the city's ancient walls – and a transparent prism containing escalators.
The building is noted for the use of advanced technology, featuring a unified image expressed through steel and glass structures, visible elevators, transparent escalators, and a large barrel vault with a certain Victorian flair.
Inclined walls configure spaces dedicated to education, while an interesting open-air theatre at an intermediate level is designed to accommodate faculty and students during breaks with fixed-integrated furniture that complement the unity of the project.
Inspired by the great works of high-tech architecture (developed two decades earlier, starting with the works of Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers in Paris and London, respectively), the building may raise some concerns from the perspective of its integration into a consolidated historical-urban context.
However, it fully addresses the functional and technological needs related to teaching and research that a modern university is called upon to meet.

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