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Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoA jaw-dropping feat of volcanic architecture has risen in the Italian city of Nola, just a stone's throw away from the cataclysmic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius">Mt. Vesuvius</a>. Designed by <a href="http://rpbw.r.ui-pro.com/">Renzo Piano</a>, the <a href="http://www.vulcanobuono.it/index.htm">Vulcano Buono</a> ("good volcano" in italian) is an epic cone-shaped commercial center crowned with a sloping green roof. Piano's "good volcano" contributes a vital new space to the southern edge of the Nola commercial district, which is the most most important freight terminal complex in southern and central Italy.1
Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoInspired by the surrounding landscape, <a href="http://www.vulcanobuono.it/index.htm">Vulcano Buono</a> has a gently sloping profile that rises from the earth as a grassy green knoll.2
Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoThe structure's roof is carpeted with a vegetative layer of over 2,500 plants that helps to insulate the interior spaces and reduces the structure's visual impact so that it's barely visible from space.3
Vulcano Buono in constructionA 150 meter-wide clearing in the volcano's crater lends space for an outdoor theater, a market, and a sloping pine forest.4
Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoRising around this heart is a concentric series of circles that form the center's commercial areas.5
Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoThe volcano's slopes are held by <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/?attachment_id=61354">structural components meant to evoke trees</a> - each "trunk" sprouts three or four supporting "branches".6
Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoThe roof of Vulcano Buono is laced with a series of skylights fitted with solar-control <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/03/24/guardian-develops-hyper-insulating-vacuum-glass/">double-pane glass</a> that allows <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/daylighting/">daylight</a> to filter through the mall, reducing energy needs for lighting.7
Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoThe interior of the complex houses shops, a supermarket, a 2,000 seat cinema, restaurants, and a hotel.8
Vulcano Buono by Renzo PianoRenzo Piano describes the building as "a contemporary take on a greek marketplace, a void as a place for events, meetings, dialogue and the gathering of people".9
Vulcano Buono by Renzo Piano[gallery_extend]....<br><br><a href='https://inhabitat.com/colossal-green-volcano-rises-in-italy/'>READ ARTICLE</a>10
Vulcano Buono by Renzo Piano[gallery_extend]....<br><br><a href='https://inhabitat.com/colossal-green-volcano-rises-in-italy/'>READ ARTICLE</a>11
Vulcano Buono by Renzo Piano[gallery_extend]....<br><br><a href='https://inhabitat.com/colossal-green-volcano-rises-in-italy/'>READ ARTICLE</a>12
Vulcano Buono by Renzo Piano[gallery_extend]....<br><br><a href='https://inhabitat.com/colossal-green-volcano-rises-in-italy/'>READ ARTICLE</a>13
Vulcano Buono plan[gallery_extend]....<br><br><a href='https://inhabitat.com/colossal-green-volcano-rises-in-italy/'>READ ARTICLE</a>14
