“What better place than a station to reflect the spirit of a country, the soul of a people?” Italian travel writer Tiziano Terzani once asked.

By the likes of the Capodichino-Aeroporto station under construction for Line 1 of Naples Metro, it is becoming clear that the historic Italian city will once again put on display its courage to break with the usual stereotypes.

“We are building the most beautiful metro system in the world,” would be an appropriate statement to be made by Naples Metro, the operator of the public transit system whose aim is to improve the quality of life of the city’s residents while at the same time combine art, archeology, and architecture in a single project.

One example of a previous audacious act is the Toledo Station, built by Webuild in 2013. It was selected by the CNN television network as the most beautiful in the world.

Today, the Capodichino station, under construction by Webuild, is set to become the latest manifestation of ingenuity, expertise and excellence in design. The station consists of an underground space that takes the form of the Greek letter, omega. It will be 50 metres deep but with an atrium at street level covered by a hangar-style roof in a mixed steel-glass-concrete structure. The circular part of the structure has an internal diametre of 33 metres with an open space with 8 elevators and 4 helicoidal staircases that run along the walls. The excavation of the underground space is expected to produce 200,000 cubic metres of earth. Construction will require 70,000 cubic metres of concrete and 8,000 tonnes of steel. Capodichino will be the third portal to the city.

With the opening of the station, Naples will be one of the first cities in the world to have the port, airport and railway station all connected to the metro system. The Capodichino Station alone is expected to receive 60 million passengers a year.