In 2004, the city of Naples invited, under the motto AAA (Architecture, Archaeology, and Art) invited prominent firms to propose designs for the new metropolitan line. The plan, aside from improving the connection between the outskirts and the city center, aimed to give certain anonymous areas a distinctive and recognizable identity.

Characterized by its organic and fluid forms, the new infrastructure evokes the volcanic origin of the city in contrast with the grid-like uniformity of the Centro Direzionale, a district of towers and platforms designed in the 1970s by Kenzo Tange. The project spans the complex topography with several levels of use under a single grand gesture: a light structure of cross-laminated timber, resting on an existing plinth of reinforced concrete. Its vaulted form evokes the archetypal train stations and reflects the width of the tracks running below. Aside from generating large shaded spaces and protecting the users during the warm months of summer and spring, the roof lets natural light come inside, turning the complex into a hybrid of indoor and outdoor space, while reducing the cost of artificial lighting during the day...[+]