A colorfully painted hallway with a man walking through the door.
Belowground, the colored paneling continues and more Roman figures appear at unexpected intervals, a concept inspired by a scene in Federico Fellini’s 1972 film Roma.

July 3, 2025

Words: Giovanna Dunmall

Photography: Roland Halbe

Discover Centro Direzionale Station’s Bold Transformation

The Metropolitana di Napoli, or Naples metro system, is the third largest underground train network in Italy. During the mid 1990’s, municipal officials launched the Stazioni dell’Arte (Stations of Art) project, with the goal of bringing art, architecture, and archaeology to some 20 stations throughout the city. One such is Centro Direzionale, and it was commissioned to Miralles Tagliabue-EMBT Architects nearly two decades ago. But it’s been worth the wait.

Centro Direzionale already existed as a railway station but not as an underground metro stop. It’s in a business district of towers and platforms east of the city center built in the ’80’s by Japanese architect Kenzō Tange. “It was intended as a sort of utopia, with upper levels dedicated to pedestrians and lower levels to parking,” EMBT cofounder and principal Benedetta Tagliabue begins. The district never really caught on with Neapolitans as it didn’t have much relationship with the rest of the city. “After 5:00 PM, it would empty out,” adds Tagliabue, who was invited to give the commencement address at Boston Architectural College last month.

Transforming Centro Direzionale Into A Vibrant Utopia

A large wooden building with a staircase.
The main hall of the new Centro Direzionale metro station features a vaulted ceiling in glulam timber, the material chosen for its warmth and structural integrity.
A person in a hat and a red shirt.
Colors are also derived from those found in Pompeian frescoes.

Recently, attempts have been made to diversify the neighborhood and create more housing, that success hinged on providing more attractive public transport. “The question we asked ourselves was, ‘How could a station improve this cold part of Naples?’” Tagliabue recalls. Her idea was twofold: using natural construction materials like wood and stone to provide a warm, organic contrast with “this very rigid orthogonal place,” the architect notes, and creating a form that referenced the volcanic geology of Naples’s surroundings. “We imagined this movement of people emerging from beneath the earth being like volcanic bubbles coming up to the surface,” Tagliabue describes.

The use of wood wasn’t only aesthetic, however. It had a practical function too since the station’s load-bearing structure had been built some 20 years ago. The site was comprehensively overhauled and enlarged to 110,000 square feet. “We unified the first and second levels, creating a kind of lowered shaded piazza and a mezzanine covered by a large undulating roof, bringing a more natural and complex topography to what is an artificial environment,” Tagliabue explains. Both above and belowground, steel paneling is adorned with scenes from Pompeiian frescoes in vivid tones of yellow, orange, maroon, and red. “We wanted people arriving to feel like, ‘Wow, we’ve discovered an ancient Roman villa.’” Flooring inside and for the newly created piazza directly outside the station is local lava and sandstone, further connecting Centro Direzionale to its origins.

Full Steam Ahead For Centro Direzionale’s Fun Revamp

A large wooden structure in a city square.
The project’s scope included upgrading the surrounding public space, which resulted in a piazza of local Etna lava stone and a forthcoming grassy knoll.
A skate park with a skateboarder on the ground.
As part of the Stazioni dell’Arte (Stations of Art) program, steel panels have been adorned with scenes from an ancient fresco found in Pompeii, specifically in the Villa dei Misteri.

Embrace Roman History At This Revamped Train Station 

A person walking in a large building with wooden beams.
The ceiling, intended to recall a forest, rises high above flooring of Etna and local Trani limestone.
A colorfully painted hallway with a man walking through the door.
Belowground, the colored paneling continues and more Roman figures appear at unexpected intervals, a concept inspired by a scene in Federico Fellini’s 1972 film Roma.
A city with tall buildings and a lot of cars.
The canopied timber roof capping the 110,000-square-foot station was originally planned to host a mural by Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada that would be visible to office workers in the surrounding skyscrapers.
A train station with a long line of train cars.
For the underground metro level, the panels echo the fluid curves of the roof and incorporate built-in benches.
A large building with a lot of windows.
At night, lighting gives the project the cathedral-like quality of historic railway stations.

THROUGHOUT MC2: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER.

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