Secondo Policlinico

By Alessandro Castagnaro

The hospital complex was created as a result of the splitting of the former Polyclinic (general hospital), whose facilities were originally located in the city's historic center, very often in convent and monumental complexes reconverted for use as hospital wards. Due to a shortage of space and overall difficult accessibility, in 1964, the University resolved to split the hospital into I and II Polyclinic, envisaging the realization of a university medical campus in the hillside area of Naples. The healthy air of the location, characterised by greenery with tall trees and agricultural plots of land, made it ideal for hospitals and clinics and these had in fact been established there since 1930, including the Cardarelli hospitals, the Principe di Piemonte tuberculosis hospital (today Monaldi Hospital) and the Pascale Foundation for the treatment of tumors. The entire complex was built on an area of almost 50 hectares, in the heavily urbanized area of Vomero Alto, residential in character but still surrounded by large areas of woodland of great scenic value, between the Camaldoli and Scudillo to the south, the Chiaiano forest and the Vallone di San Rocco to the north. The buildings represent the result of a tender-competition for the drafting of which Corrado Béguinot, a well-known professor of Urban Planning at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Naples, was appointed. The drafted planovolumetric plan was based, with a conception that was avant-garde at the time, on facilities that combined research, teaching and hospital purposes, taking as a model numerous similar realities scattered in various Italian and foreign countries. The models were not only urban and architectural in nature, but also took into account the needs of health care, as well as the social and psychological aspects of the inpatient and the new methodologies related to university education. The project was won by a large group of architects whose group leader was Carlo Cocchia, a professor of architecture and among the best-known professionals in the city, thanks to multiple accomplishments from the late 1930s onward. Together with him, the design group consisted of Cesare Blasi, Fabrizio Cocchia, Massimo Nunziata, Gabriella Padovano, and Michele Pizzolorusso, and was joined for urban planning aspects by Béguinot himself. The facility with two different entrances--one from Via Sergio Pansini and the other to the northwest at Via Orsolona ai Cangiani--is spread across a vast area of more than 440,000 square meters, with an original volume of 900,000 cubic meters distributed in nineteen clinical institutes, nine biological institutes, three anatomical institutes, a management center, and centralized equipment and facilities. It has a capacity of three thousand beds and is articulated following well-defined criteria. A feature worth mentioning is the unification of inpatient wards, institutes and medical and surgical clinics in multi-story lamellar buildings that facilitate ventilation and natural lighting for the rooms with three horizontal slots that allow outward vision in the three different positions of the patient: lying, sitting, and standing; the same ventilation and lighting is provided for the corridor, for the maximum part of its linear development. The square-plan tower is arranged symmetrically on the diagonal, with a central spine containing all the facilities. The buildings housing the clinics are arranged according to the heliothermal axis, with elevations consisting of an interplay of full and empty spaces. Other interesting buildings arranged in a ziggurat shape contain the anatomical institutes, lit by zenithal light. The different units are connected underground by a series of passage tunnels, while the external areas, in addition to containing separate driveways and pedestrian paths, are equipped with green spaces with valuable and well-kept arrangements. From an architectural point of view, the references to the Modern Movement and other works by 20th century masters are evident: from the siedlungen built in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, to the Richards laboratory towers designed by Louis Kahn for the University of Pennsylvania, to some references to Wrightian style that inspired parts of the Biology tower. The entire complex, inaugurated in 1973, was built with prefabricated reinforced concrete structures that allowed for rapid construction; this material was experimental at the time, but over time has shown considerable shortcomings in terms of durability. In short, as noted by Renato De Fusco, the Second Policlinico (controllare Guido) displays a pluralism of sources which, however, was not reflected in an eclectic expression, since the whole has an autonomous and unprecedented unitary image. The new hospital, at the time of its construction, aroused great interest, both for its daring architectural solutions and its urban layout, earning praise in the most important architectural magazines such as 'Casabella' and L'Architettura. Cronache e storia.

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