ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Urban Heritage and transnational networks in the case of Municipio Station in Naples, Italy

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 06 | URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE

Speakers

Mrs Anita Martinelli (Polytechnic University of Milan)Mrs Sveva Ventre (University of Naples Federico II)

Description

Over the last decades, many historic cities have experienced major transformation as a way to improve urban infrastructure to facilitate the flow of goods, people and ideas, generating the environment of citizens' everyday life (Larkin, 2013). Among the strategies to better position the city worldwide, there are the expansion of metro lines and the involvement of high-profile architects (Augé, 1995), the so-called star-architects, which, in many institutional contexts, are brought by commercial dynamics for branding the image of a city through new architectural ‘objects’ (Alaily-Mattar, Ponzini & Thierstein, 2020). In particular, when acting on heritage-rich urban contexts it is often required great innovation and flexibility, due to the high levels of difficulty involved in the realisation of new infrastructure and considering the potential archaeological heritage beneath such sites. As a consequence, it is often required to introduce new methods of working and investigating in the integration of architectural interventions in the urban space (Lambertucci, 2016).
The case of Municipio metro station in Naples is part of the newly constructed metro line 1, also defined as the “Three A Metro Line” (Art, Architecture, Archaeology) and, being designed in the heart of Naples by the two Portuguese Pritskzer Prices A. Siza Vieira and E. Souto De Moura, acts as a forerunner in Italy. Dated back at the end of the ‘90s and partially inaugurated in 2015, it represents an example not only for the innovative techniques that have been developed, but also for facing contingencies that have influenced the order of events, changing the stakeholders dynamics and generating, in turn, solutions of extraordinary uniqueness. Furthermore, the project defines a profound transformation of one of the city's most representative public spaces (Piazza Municipio) and is the result of a refined cultural approach. Despite the sensibility of the archistars to the heritage-rich urban area, the development of the project has had to deal with on-site contextual issues, linked to the daily life of the city.
With this paper, the authors decided to analyse the case of Municipio Station reconstructing the complex network of actors - including experts, state bodies, local and international conservation organisations, companies and researchers – which have been involved in the realisation of the station and the square. Adopting the perspective of assemblage theory (Deleuze & Guattari, 1976; McFarlane, 2011), the study also includes non-human agents, recognizing their significant role in shaping outcomes, as they “participate as near-equals in life on earth” (Lieto & Beauregard, 2015), actively contributing to and influencing the dynamic network. Archaeology, now showcased within the station and in the still-under construction archaeological park, has fostered significant interactions, shaping the creation of new expertise and influencing urban policies. Viewed as an agent in public space and a public good that requires careful consideration in urban planning and policies (Dodson, 2009), infrastructure, likewise, can be understood as a part of “extended material assemblages” that produce tangible effects and shape social dynamics (Harvey et al., 2016).

This socio-material infrastructure enables an examination of the ‘everyday articulations’ between bodies, objects and spaces, resulting in accomplished and complex trajectories (Robinson, 2023). Through the analysis of specific events – presented as vignettes -, the authors provide process insights on single interventions, revealing interferences that emerge in the intersection of various agents and actors. By incorporating reports, field surveys, interviews, archival visits, and an ongoing effort to comprehend the transnational assemblage as a network of relationships, the study aims to initiate a reflection on the impact evaluation of the urban policies on the city and its heritage, highlighting how it is necessary to complement the technical strategy with a cultural approach.

References

Augé, M. (1995). Non-places: Introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity (J. Howe, Trans.). Verso. (Original work published 1992)

Larkin, B. (2013). The Politics and Poetics of Infrastructure. Annual Review of Anthropology, 42(1), 327–343.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155522

Lambertucci, F., 2016. Archaeo-mobility: Integrating Archaeological Heritage with Everyday Life. Procedia Engineering, 165, pp.104–113. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2016.11.741.

Alaily-Mattar, N., Ponzini, D., & Thierstein, A. (eds.), 2020. About Star Architecture: Reflecting on Cities in Europe. 1st ed. Cham: Springer. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23925-1.

Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1976) Rhizome. Éditions de Minuit. Paris.

McFarlane, C. (2011) Learning the city: knowledge and translocal assemblage. 1st ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell (RGS-IBG book series, 56).

Lieto, L., & Beauregard, R. (Eds.). (2015). Planning for a Material World (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315735603

Dodson, J. (2009). The ‘Infrastructure Turn’ in Australian Metropolitan Spatial Planning. International Planning Studies, 14(2), 109–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563470903021100

Harvey, P., Jensen, C., & Morita, A. (2016). Infrastructures and Social Complexity. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315622880

Robinson, J. (2023) Comparative Urbanism: Tactics for Global Urban Studies | Wiley. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.