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The Good Volcano

210 million investments, 1700 employees, 155 shops, 1 hotel, 9 cinemas: these are the figures of the "Vulcano Buono" Service Centre, inaugurated in Nola (Naples) on December 6th 2007.

The project is by Renzo Piano, who got inspiration from the most famous Neapolitan icon: the Vesuvio.

40-metre high, the centre has a diameter of over 170 metres, with a huge square in the centre. It is an artificial hill that seems to raise from the ground to follow the unique sinuous shapes of the Neapolitan volcano. The complex structure was designed with a sophisticated CAD system.

Piano's comment on this extraordinary project was: "the project gives an interpretation of cooperation with a modern meaning. It is not a sad shopping mall, it is a square where empty spaces are a meeting element for people".

Great attention is paid to the eco-oriented aspects of design: a "green lung" consisting in a park with over 2,000 trees will be created around the structure.