Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi architect who became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize in 2004, has built an incredible body of work that is so revolutionary and daring that it has brought her worldwide fame. From the Fire Station in Weil am Rhein, Germany (1993) to the Guangzhou Opera House in China (2010) and the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku (2013), Hadid has established herself as one of the most influential designers in contemporary architecture. Not only is she an inspiration to today's architects, but after her death in 2016, her legacy has been carried on by the studio that bears her name, which continues her visionary ideas: Zaha Hadid Architects. Her influence is also unmistakable in Italy, with her projects in Milan's CityLife district, including the Hadid Residences and the Generali Tower, commonly known as "Lo Storto", as well as in Rome, with the famous MAXXI Museum, completed in 2010, and the recent transformation of a 16th century palace into a hotel.

Today, we are eagerly awaiting the realisation of two projects by Zaha Hadid Architects in southern Italy: one in Campania - where the studio has already completed the Afragola high-speed train station (Naples) in 2013 and the Salerno Maritime Station in 2016 - and the other in Calabria, overlooking the Strait of Messina.

ZHA has already won the project for the redevelopment of a highly complex area of the city, Napoli Porta Est, which includes the creation of a new intermodal hub to connect the three main infrastructures of Naples: the railway station, the port and the airport. In a second phase, the studio was also commissioned to design two towers that will house the new headquarters of the Campania regional government. "Il Faro" will consist of two buildings - one 100 metres high and the other 80 metres - that will rise on the former railway freight yard. Early renderings suggest that the designers may have been inspired by the winding lines of the old railway tracks.

The master plan aims to transform over 30 hectares of abandoned industrial buildings, including the former Manifattura Tabacchi factory and other derelict buildings in the Feltrinelli industrial area, for public use. It is a truly urban project, involving the undergrounding of the Vesuvius railway lines, the creation of new parks and the construction of underground car parks.

Unlike the Naples project, the Museum of the Sea - also known as the "Centre for Mediterranean Culture" - was one of the projects that Hadid won in her lifetime, in 2009. Stalled for years due to a lack of funding, the process was restarted in 2023 thanks to PNRR funds, and on 22 February 2025 the foundation stone was laid, officially marking the start of construction.

The project aims to redevelop an area of 25,000 square metres between the Falcomatà waterfront and the port, consisting of two volumes: the Museum of the Mediterranean and a multifunctional centre. The structure is inspired by the radial symmetry of a starfish, a kind of conceptual transposition from content to container. With a total area of 13,400 square metres, the museum will also house a marine biology centre, an aquarium, restoration laboratories, an archive, a library, a bar, a restaurant, a large conference hall and exhibition spaces for both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

During the first official meeting to prepare for the project's inaugural conference in July 2023, when it was finally unblocked, Filippo Innocenti, a director at Zaha Hadid Architects who has played a key role in previous projects in Campania, said:

"This is a work linked to Zaha Hadid's vision. Unfortunately, she is no longer with us, but her memory remains clearly present in this project, which is now of the utmost importance to be realised according to her original concept".