San Pasquale: A Journey to Gulf of Naples Metro Station Ahead of the America’s Cup

The sea, underground and beyond the horizon, is the silent protagonist of the journey that thousands of people will embark on in 2027 to admire the world’s fastest boats racing in the waters of the Gulf of Naples, for the America’s Cup.

Reaching Naples’ waterfront, just a stone’s throw from Castel dell’Ovo, is now possible thanks to a metro ride that ends at the San Pasquale subway station on Line 6, designed as a plunge underground into the Napoli sea before admiring it from the surface.

Inaugurated in July 2024, San Pasquale station has already become a symbol of the city. A strategic transport hub in the urban mobility system — Line 6 connects with Line 1, which will also link to Capodichino Airport — it is much more than just infrastructure. It is a place where architecture and art blend to offer a deep aesthetic and cultural experience.

Built by the Webuild Group in collaboration with Moccia Irme, based on a design by Italian-Slovenian architect Boris Podrecca and enriched by works from Austrian artist Peter Kogler, San Pasquale has recently been awarded the “BIG SEE Architecture Award 2025,” an international prize recognizing the most visionary and innovative projects in contemporary architecture.

The award motivation highlights “the varied surface treatments and the polyphony of materials that establish a dialogue between the technologically advanced structure and the historical context, giving the site a distinctive identity.”

An identity that originates from the sea, visually present even underground and harmoniously integrated into the urban landscape.

On several occasions, architect Boris Podrecca has explained that the Metro station’s design was inspired by the idea of “a dizzying descent to the sea.”

The transportation infrastructure develops over five underground levels, with a total depth of 35 meters and a length of 100 meters, evoking the image of an ancient shipwreck submerged beneath the city of Naples.

The walls are clad in blue panels that replicate the waves in three different shades, while a large elliptical metal structure — resembling a sail — houses multimedia screens that display information about events and cultural initiatives in the city.

The central body of the station is covered in corten steel, a material reminiscent of the rust on sunken ships, and integrates circular light fixtures that evoke the portholes of a vessel.

A choice consistent with Podrecca’s desire to avoid purely decorative approaches, favoring an abstract, technological, and communicative design capable of reflecting Naples’ contemporary identity.

The immersive experience is further amplified by the work of artist Peter Kogler, a pioneer of digital art, who created monumental abstract panels representing the waves of Napoli sea for San Pasquale. His works, installed along the staircases, reinforce the idea of descending into the depths, projecting users into a journey through architecture, art, and marine inspirations.

For San Pasquale, Napoli sea is not only depicted in Peter Kogler’s waves. The station is located in an area of the city that was, in fact, “taken back” from the sea, which in the past reached much further inland, right to where the Riviera di Chiaia now lies. Even today, the underground aquifer is heavily influenced by the presence of saltwater.

“One of the main engineering challenges for the construction of the station,” explains Webuild Project Manager Carlo Di Costanzo, responsible for the contracts of Line 1 and Line 6, “was precisely managing the presence of seawater, with salt being highly corrosive and potentially damaging to reinforced concrete structures.”

For this reason, beyond adopting specific excavation techniques, the water level was constantly monitored with piezometers, and essential wells were set up to lower the water table, keep the metro station’s interior dry, and ultimately waterproof the entire structure, which presented itself as an enormous empty box.

In addition to the subway station’s construction, the project was another opportunity to enhance the urban environment. Alongside the transport infrastructure, the project included the urban redevelopment of Largo Pignatelli and the area adjacent to Naples’ Villa Comunale, which has been transformed into a new public square.

“The urban renewal,” continues Di Costanzo, “is a common thread throughout our work, which also made it possible to uncover forgotten areas, now part of the city’s new renaissance. Today, San Pasquale is not just a metro station, but a true tourist destination for many people.”

The urban revitalization efforts went hand in hand with the protection of historical and cultural heritage. During the excavation, for example, the Villa degli Invitti, an 18th-century structure, was discovered, with its most significant artifacts recovered and entrusted to the Superintendency for Archaeological and Monumental Heritage of Naples.

The area’s abundance of historic buildings also required the use of special monitoring techniques.

“The work,” adds Di Costanzo, “was constantly accompanied by monitoring activities carried out with both digital reading systems and topographical surveys that allowed real-time analysis of any subsidence, which we mitigated and nearly eliminated through extensive soil consolidation interventions.”

San Pasquale is part of the “Stations of Art” network, the urban regeneration project conceived in the 1990s by critic Achille Bonito Oliva to transform Naples’ metro stations into places of culture, beauty, and civic identity.

From Toledo to Università, from Museo to Dante, and Materdei, the Stations of Art have redefined the public transport system, turning anonymous public transit spaces into permanent exhibitions capable of restoring aesthetic value and a sense of belonging to citizens.

The San Pasquale project confirms this vision, integrating sustainable transportation solutions with culture and urban renewal.

San Pasquale is one of eight stops along Line 6, which stretches 5.5 kilometers, connecting the populous Fuorigrotta district in the west with Piazza Municipio in the city center.

The station allows transfers to Line 2 at Piazza Amedeo station and to the Chiaia Funicular, improving access to the Caracciolo waterfront, the Villa Comunale, and the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, an important research center for marine biology conservation, which also houses the city aquarium.

It is a crucial element for integrated urban transport in Naples because, in addition to easing urban traffic, the new line facilitates direct connections between the city center and the western area, with transfers to Line 1, Line 2, and the Cumana Railway.

San Pasquale is much more than a metro station: it is a contemporary work of art, a strategic transportation infrastructure, and a symbolic place that tells the story of today’s and tomorrow’s Naples.

In addition to its construction, Webuild has been involved for years in modernizing Naples’ transport infrastructure.

In the Neapolitan capital, the Group has already built 14 metro stations, including 10 on Line 1 — among them the iconic Toledo, Università, Dante, Museo, and Materdei — and is currently working on the Capodichino station, which will connect the international airport to the city center.

Building through beauty is possible. When engineering, architecture, and art engage in dialogue, the result is an infrastructure project capable of restoring value and identity to a territory unique in the world.