‘Located in the countryside outside Naples, this mixed use center called Il Vulcano Buono is a modern version of the traditional marketplace: all the activities that were once located in Naples´s Piazza Mercato were moved here. The Center designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop includes a superstone,a shopping mall, entertainment and public spaces, restaurants, a hotel, offices and other facilities.

The Project design draws inspiration from the surrounding landscape, in particular from the volcano. It has the shape of some interlocking and rotating solids, each with different slope. The slopes form ridges that range from 25 to 41 meters in height, with an overall diameter of 320 meters.

The structure’s form contrasts with, and counterbalances the rectilinear buildings of the neighboring business center. The center’s operations are located on several levels. the central ‘piazza’, which is 160-meter in diameter, constitutes the center of the volcano, with its markets and places for people to meet or work.

The crater structure is made of reinforced concrete, covered with turf, allowing the artificial volcano to disappear into the landscape: the aim of the project is to integrate the building into the landscape, not just occupy it.

From a distance, it fits naturally with the contour of the land.’