Salerno Palace of Justice, Salerno
David Chipperfield Architects 

Salerno Palace of Justice, Salerno

David Chipperfield Architects 


This design for a Palace of Justice in Salerno, southern Italy, is located on a former goods yard, peripheral to the city centre, in an area highlighted for renewal and regeneration as part of Spanish architect Oriol Bohigas’ masterplan for the city. Won in competition, its solution to integrate the massive programme of the law courts into the existing urban fabric was to conceptually structure the site as a series of responses to its immediate context, principally the new boulevard that extends along the site’s eastern side, the railway siding to the west, and the tail of the site looking south towards the sea.

Central to the development of the new law courts, was the idea of creating a judicial building that was not intimidating but expressive of ideas of justice rather than authority. The proposal fragments the large institutional model by dividing the volume into a composition of smaller buildings. Each of these smaller, individualised structures is articulated as a simple block, finished in pre-cast concrete panels with terracotta aggregate, and punctured by a series of openings designed to emphasise their vertical aspect in contrast to the horizontality of the services plinth out of which they emerge.


Cliente Client

Comune di Salerno

Arquitectos Architects

David Chipperfield Architects; Alberto Izzo & Partners (arquitecto asociado?associate architect)

Colaboradores Collaborators

David Chipperfield Architects: Ram Ahronov, Erik Ajemian, Sofia Arraiza Ruiz de Galarreta, Renata Bailey, Judith Brown, Kord Buening-Pfaue, Patrick Campbell, David Chipperfield, Mario Cottone, Luca Donadoni, Martin Ebert, Mansour El-Khawad, Petra Elm, Amos Goldreich, Jason Good, Manuel Gujber, Rachel Hart, Mette Heide, Harvey Langston-Jones, Daniel López-Peréz, Alessandra Maiolino, Sabrina Melera-Morettini, Claire Meller, Hau Ming Tse, Tina Sophie Müller, Louise Parmenter, Jonathan Slaughter, Henning Stummel, Sara Tempesta, Oliver Ulmer, Jonathon Wong, Nicole Woodman, Amy Yee Ping Lam, Toni Yli- Suvanto, Mirei Yoshida, Ada Yvars Bravo, Giuseppe Zampieri; Alberto Izzo & Partners: Maurizio D'Andrea, Ferruccio Izzo, Paola Izzo, Rosario Manzo, Luigi Marino, Giuseppe Monzo, Barbara Pulli, Francesco Saturno

Consultores Consultants

Wirtz International: Johan Leenaerts, Peter Wirtz (pasiajismo?landscape arcuitect); Jane Wernick Associates: Stephen Haskins, Jane Wernick; Pasquale Giancane: Domenico Giancane, Pasquale Giancane (estructura structural engineer); Arup: Martin Hockey, Florence Lam, Andrew Sedgwick; Aniello Castaldo: Aniello Castaldo, Maria Castaldo, Paolo Cicala (instalaciones service engineer); Ennio Campagnuolo (seguridad safety engineer); Alberto Izzo & Partners: Gaetano Avitabile, Maurizio D’Andrea, Ennio Campagnuolo, Aniello Castaldo, Paolo Cicala, Pasquale Giancane, Ferruccio Izzo, Giuseppe Monzo (control de obra site supervisor); Tim Gatehouse Associates: Malcolm Atwill, Tim Gatehouse (aparejador quantity surveyor)

Artistas Artists

Joseph Kosuth, Ben Jakober & Yannick Vu, Franco Scognamiglio

Fotos Photos

Libero De Cunzo