Il Vulcano Buono ( it, The Good Volcano) is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

and leisure center located in

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship. ...

, near the

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

of Polvica,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Inaugurated on December 7, 2007, it was designed by renowned Italian architect

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...

Overview

The complex is a large multi-center consisting of a

five star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) are a British pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson. Between 1985 and 1988, Five Star had four top 20 albums and 15 top 40 singles in the UK ...

hotel, a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

with a gym and an indoor pool, a multiplex cinema and a gallery, double-height of 155 shops and several restaurants and bars. At the center there is a large circular square, which resembles the

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Piazza del Plebiscito Piazza del Plebiscito (; nap, Chiazza d''o Plebbiscito) is a large public square in central Naples, Italy. History Named after the plebiscite taken on October 21, 1860, that brought Naples into the unified Kingdom of Italy under the House of Sa ...

and is used for concerts and events. The lobbies of the entrances consist of large squares connected to each other by avenues named after famous Neapolitan actors such as Antonio de Curtis (

Totò Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...

Massimo Troisi Massimo Troisi (; 19 February 1953 – 4 June 1994) was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his works in the films '' I'm Starting from Three'' (1981) and '' Il Postino: The Postman'' (1994) ...

Tina Pica Tina Pica (31 March 1884 – 15 August 1968) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage. Her film debut came in 1935 with ''The Three-Cornered Hat''. In the 1950s, she became a celebrity thanks to her role as Caramel ...

and

Pupella Maggio Pupella Maggio (born Giustina Maria Maggio) (24 April 1910 – 8 December 1999) was an Italian film actress. Life and career Born in Naples into a family of actors, Maggio debuted on stage aged twelve years old, as the sidekick of her brother ...

, while the upper floor is connected via escalators and elevators.

Architecture

The architectural aspect of the building consists of a set of solid circles, each of them having a different slope, which fuse to form a volcano-structure which imitates the look of

Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9 ...

. The upper edge of the volcano-like structure has a height that varies from 25 to 41 meters, with a total diameter of 320 meters. The central square of 160 meters in diameter is divided into three concentric zones, the internal with a stage dedicated to shows and concerts, the medium reserved to the shops and the external zone that crowns the building consisting of a large park filled with pine trees. From the outside, except for the five different entrances (called

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

Positano Positano (Campanian: ) is a village and ''comune'' on the Amalfi Coast (Province of Salerno), in Campania, Italy, mainly in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast. Climate The climate of Positano is very mild, of the Mediterranean ...

and

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...

), the building is practically invisible as an architectural work as the

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

roofs are covered with soil, grass and bushes, effectively hiding the structure. The project started in 1995, and works began in 2002. It was completed in 2007 at a cost of 180 million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s, partly covered by regional funding for reconstruction and development. The entire establishment occupies an area of approximately , the floor area is , and there are parking lots for 8,000 cars. The building hosts the largest

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...

roof system in Europe. In 2007, the then

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

praised the structure, referring to it as "a marvellous face of Naples", "an amazing project" and "an example for Italy and for Europe".

References

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External links

Inhabitat article
Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Naples Renzo Piano buildings Shopping centres in Italy 2007 establishments in Italy Shopping malls established in 2007