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| Urban Collisions - the meeting |
In 'meeting' Naples for the first time, one is struck by the built density and varied lifeforms that live organically within the cold hard stone that define the footpaths, walls, facades - blending planes of urban experience together, in an all encapsulating way.
Moving through Naples' disorientating density, there are near chaotic moments, where cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians, all seem to 'walk' together through the dense streets that define the historic centre and the Spanish Quarter. There is little hierarchy in spaces and uses across this dense maze through which to identify and orientate one's place. The walker becomes a part of this organic dense movement - prompted to continue to walk, or else be lost in a maze of stone. However within this density comes a freedom of use. A bar sits next to an auto-mechanic, sits next to a furniture restorer, sits next to a fruit shop, sits next to a religious altar. Could it be by having no hierarchy in the streets of these areas, allows a freedom of uses - an 'equalising' streetscape with no pre-determined cues on its preferred (or permitted) use?
[the walker becomes a part of this organic dense movement - prompted to continue to walk, or else be lost in a maze of stone]
In a mix of styles, people, uses, almost anything seems to go. Anything seems to be allowed an experiment. Baroque art within the churches, mixes with the graffitti outside - both as social commentry, decoration, and resistance; art in metro stations elevates the culture of transport; and where murals animate rennaissance facades, at the scale of 3-4 storeys in height. This freedom and visual experimentation comes in contrasting collision to the reverence of religion - churches and religious altars weaved throughout the city - at once hide within it, and at once conducting the city's chaos and experimentation.
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Lives upon a facade - graphics, paint, and emotion
provide a structural 'thickness' to the buildings of Naples |
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| Contrasting lives - a mural on the exterior of a Church |
Moving through Naples' disorientating density, there are near chaotic moments, where cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians, all seem to 'walk' together through the dense streets that define the historic centre and the Spanish Quarter. There is little hierarchy in spaces and uses across this dense maze through which to identify and orientate one's place. The walker becomes a part of this organic dense movement - prompted to continue to walk, or else be lost in a maze of stone. However within this density comes a freedom of use. A bar sits next to an auto-mechanic, sits next to a furniture restorer, sits next to a fruit shop, sits next to a religious altar. Could it be by having no hierarchy in the streets of these areas, allows a freedom of uses - an 'equalising' streetscape with no pre-determined cues on its preferred (or permitted) use?
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