The new entrance to the Cimitero delle Fontanelle in Naples has won the Premio nazionale In/Architettura 2026. The award was presented during a ceremony at the Biennale di Venezia, according to Il Mattino Napoli.
The intervention is in the Rione Sanità and was developed within the G124 programme promoted by Renzo Piano. It transforms access to the ancient ossuary into a more accessible public space, better connected to surrounding urban routes.
The project and the team
The project was realized by Marino Amodio, Giuseppe De Pascale, Orazio Nicodemo and Davide Savoia, with academic guidance from Nicola Flora and Daniela Buonanno of the University of Naples Federico II.
The redevelopment includes the new access itself, the redesign of adjacent public spaces, and interventions intended to improve reception and use of the site. Accessibility and the creation of new spaces for gathering are central elements of the work.
Why the project stood out
A distinct recognition has also been reported for the same project: the "Miglior edificio" prize within the Premio italiano di Architettura 2026 associated with Triennale and MAXXI. The available sources describe that jury as valuing the relationship between architectural quality, memory, public space and the urban community.
The wording of the sources does not fully clarify the formal relationship between the In/Architettura prize and the Triennale–MAXXI recognition, and the precise nature of the awards has not been detailed in the sources consulted. They are therefore best understood as two separate recognitions reported for the Fontanelle entrance project.
What is clear from the corroborating architecture and design coverage is the reason for the attention: the project links architectural quality to collective memory and everyday urban life, rather than treating the entrance as an isolated structure.
Light and the passage underground
Lighting is an integral part of the new entrance. The lighting project by iGuzzini highlights the mouth of the former quarry and accompanies the passage from the outside into the underground spaces.
That transition matters because of what the Fontanelle complex is: a hypogeal complex carved from an ancient tuff quarry, holding the remains of about 40,000 people.
A small entrance with a larger urban role
For the Rione Sanità, the significance of the prize lies less in a single structure than in what surrounds it. The project treats the cemetery entrance as public space: redesigned outdoor areas, improved accessibility, and a clearer connection between the historic ossuary and the neighborhood around it.
In that sense, the national award recognizes both a specific architectural intervention and a broader approach to regeneration — one in which memory, accessibility and shared urban space are addressed together.
