An abandoned ropeway in the urban landscape

Urban transformations are linked to networks that develop in several half-spaces, from aerial half-spaces to underground half-spaces. Ropeways belong to the former group; they enhance the perceptive element and an unusual, bird’s-eye view of the city. This contribution reinterprets the functional and perceptive features of a ropeway built in Naples in 1937 and abandoned in 1961. It used to connect the hill of Posillipo – the natural border of the old city to the west – to the new twentieth-century neighbourhoods, especially the exhibition centre called Mostra d’Otremare built during the fascist period by some of the most important protagonists of twentieth-century architecture, including Luigi Piccinato and Carlo Cocchia. This study carefully reinterpreted available documentation, especially drawings and photographs, and compared past and present maps of the urban context to analyse the contemporary importance of the ropeway, bearing in mind that current international thinking considers this infrastructure type as a valid support to the accessibility and enhancement of the landscape features of urban space.