The Centro direzionale is a

business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

close to the

Napoli Centrale railway station Napoli Centrale (''Naples Central Station'') () is the main railway station in the city of Naples and in southern Italy and the sixth largest station in Italy in terms of passenger flow with an annual ridership of 50 million. It is located next ...

. Designed by the Japanese architect Kenzō Tange, the entire complex was completed in 1995. It is the first cluster of

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

s to have been built in Italy or

southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...

History

The project of the ''Centro direzionale'' dates back to 1964. It was designed in 1982 by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. The district’s origins date back to the mid-sixties, when the Municipality of Naples identified an abandoned industrial area of approximately to be used for the construction of a new neighborhood, mainly for office use, to relieve congestion in the city center. After numerous projects, none of which were finally approved, in 1982 everything was entrusted to the famous Japanese architect Kenzō Tange. About three years after the presentation of his project, the construction work started. The construction of the skyscrapers was entrusted to internationally renowned architects: among others,

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...

designed the

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been owned b ...

building, Massimo Pica Ciamarra, along with a team of qualified architects, designed the two

ENEL Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel was first established as a public body at the end of 1962, and then transformed into a limited company in 1992. In 1999, following the liberali ...

towers, and Nicola Pagliara designed the towers of the Banco di Napoli as well as the Palazzo dell'Edilres. The realization was carried out by the company Mededil S.p.A., IRI-Italstat group.

Structure

The structure is characterized by the wide road axis at the centre of the complex on which there are piazza of various shapes (circular, quadrangular, etc.) and dimensions, some of which are equipped with fountains. Below this main street there are numerous parking lots, escalators and road arteries serving the traffic connecting the most peripheral part of the architectural complex with the city centre. The Telecom Italia Tower at 129 metres in height, is the tallest building in southern Italy, and the ninth tallest building in Italy. For 15 years, from 1995 to 2010 it was the tallest building in Italy, exceeding by 2 metres the Pirellone of Milan. Seen from the Vomero hill, the entire complex appears in marked contrast to the antiquities of the historic centre of Naples and with Vesuvius in the background. The management center also houses the new headquarters of the Faculty of Engineering and Science and Technology of the University of Naples "Parthenope". The center is one of the most extensive and important city works built in recent decades. Inspired by the ideas of Le Corbusier, represents a first positive example of clear separation between underground car traffic and surface pedestrian area. The whole complex is said to bring a tone of renewal and modernity to the city, revitalizing the skyline. It is considered one of the most extensive and impressive urban agglomerations of skyscrapers in

to date.Ischianews.com
The area has become attractive to companies, allowing them to effectively interface with each other in a single complex dedicated to business.

Location

The complex is located in Naples between the central station, Vicaria side, and Piazza Nazionale. Although the structure is entirely within the Poggioreale district, there is a Polizia di Stato station called "Vasto - Arenaccia". The center is accessible from Via Giovanni Porzio, a road that runs from Corso Malta to Corso Meridionale, making a corner with this and Via Taddeo da Sessa: this is the main entrance to the district, so much so that the most used address for correspondence is "via Giovanni Porzio, 4.” This number seems to be arbitrary, because it is not posted anywhere and because on the office building on the same side of the street there is nothing. The area can also be accessed from via Francesco Lauria, via Domenico Aulisio, via Costantino Grimaldi, piazza Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino (formerly piazza Enrico Cenni, which is what is shown on the street map of the City of Naples despite the change of the street sign), via Serafino Biscardi and Piazza Salerno. Some of these entrances enter directly into the structures of the new courthouse.

Internal naming

Inside the business district, most of the buildings are marked by a code consisting of a letter and a number, sometimes separated by a slash: the letter indicates the block, the number is the lot inside that block. The blocks range from A to G. For some buildings, names are used instead. The district also uses its own street naming system, rather than municipal numbering. The exception is largo Kagoshima, which is the only name indicated by the Commune's official street sign, and while this name appears on the ''stradario'' (street listing) of the municipality, it is not shown on street maps, including Google's.

Complex

The ENEL Towers are often referred to as the

Twin Towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

of Naples due to their similarity.

Transportation

The district is served by two public transport stations: the Centro Direzionale station on

Naples Metro The Naples Metro () is a rapid transit system serving the city of Naples, Campania, Italy and some parts of the adjacent ''Comune, comuni'' of its Naples metropolitan area, metropolitan area through Naples–Aversa railway, Line 11. The system ...

Line 1, and the on the Circumvesuviana railway.

References

External links

Official website
{{Portal bar, Italy, Architecture 20th-century establishments in Italy Buildings and structures in Naples Zones of Naples Kenzo Tange buildings Central business districts in Italy