Becoming modern

This richly illustrated book is a monument to modern urban construction in Naples. It features some fifty new photos by celebrated French photographer Cyrille Weiner as well as historic images, drawings of important architectonic details, and an atlas of eighteen significant buildings dating from 1930–1960 illustrated with site and floor plans, elevations, and sections. It reveals how this Southern Italian metropolis developed its own form of modernism, one that combined Mediterranean culture with local materials and a strong internationalist spirit. The topical essays and concise descriptions of the documented buildings, together with the lavish illustrations make for a hugely attractive and lively portrait of Naples. This fascinating city is both famous and infamous—but its qualities and individuality in terms of architecture and urban development really should be better known. With contributions by Gianluigi Freda, Abdrea Maglio, Umberto Napolitano, and Manuel Orazi.