Santiago Calatrava, a Spaniard and super-architect, known in Italy for his fascinating, exciting works, such as Reggio Emilia Station and the bridge of the same name, the port of Marina di Arechi, and not least, his project for the University of Rome, presents us with a dazzling interpretation of the Church of San Gennaro in Naples, envisioning a true rebirth that allows the grand past to dialogue with the grand present. I flee from the radical Venetian polemics, concerning the minimal and ingenious bridge that crosses the Grand Canal, which are a testament to a banal, arrogant conservatism that cannot come to terms with the past, and carves out a mediocre present for itself, focusing on the finger rather than the moon it points to. In short, you've understood, I like Calatrava, just as I like Zaha Hadid, Libeskind, Piano, Isozaki, Botta. In Naples, a city of universal charm and age-old problems, he proposes an extraordinary, modern reading of the Capodimonte Baroque, bestowing a theatrical apparatus that evokes life and vitality, exalting history and the present time.
Restoration of everything, from the organ to the bells, in a hymn to the extraordinary skill of local craftsmanship and traditions. A permanent and a theatrical part, for Santiago Calatrava. In the light of Naples.
A 360-degree baroque, from the stained-glass windows to the ceiling, the niches, and the porcelain, with an enrichment that allows for a better understanding of its mystery and unspeakable sublimity. Walls and ceiling in ultramarine blue, and then in everything, of everything, in “a global concept, in which the different parts; porcelain, fabric, enamels, painting, converge into an autonomous work”, which speaks many languages, those of the golden tradition and those of bold innovation.
Why genius can (must) be with genius.
KLESSIDRA | EDITED BY FRANCESCO GALLO MAZZEO
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