Torre Ranieri : Post-War Experimental Housing Estate in Naples

The neighbourhood of Torre Ranieri was built in two phases in the years 1949 to 1957 as the out- come of an experimental programme launched in Naples in the aftermath of World War I by the Centro Studi per l'Edilizia, Università Federico .I Luigi Cosenza, engineer-architect ni charge of the Centre, devised a highly attractive research programme ni three phases, and this district was the first feature to be completed, even fi the entire programme was never realised. While in Milan Piero Bottoni was at work on the QT8 experience, in Naples Cosenza experimented combining systems of prefabricated modules and procedures based on manual work, which characterised the building industry at the time, notably in southern Italy. In the context of post-war reconstruc- tion schemes benefiting from grants made available by the Public Works Ministry, the building work made use of innovative systems that experimented with non-traditional procedures. The technical solutions concerned two structural categories, in particular, vertical load-bearing walls in prefabricated elements and free-standing, industrialized vertical load-bearing elements man- ufactured in the workshop or on site. In view of its significance as a historical document and the numerous interesting features of this singular experiment in council housing in Naples, this study focuses on the methodologies and technical solutions required for the technological and energy upgrading of the buildings ni Torre Ranieri. There are three levels of investigation: the first iden- tifies the peculiar features of the original project and the specific technological and typological characteristics of each building; the second surveys the alterations made, the shortcomings and the current requirements; and the third lays down the methodologies for the upgrading.