Palazzo dei Telefoni, Palace in Naples' historic center, Italy.
Palazzo dei Telefoni is a palace located where Corso Garibaldi meets Piazza Nolana in Naples' historic center, built with a reinforced concrete frame and faced with marble. The structure features tall windows with railings on the main floor, square windows with pilaster details above, and a three-part entrance portal with sculptural supports.
Engineer Camillo Guerra designed this building in 1920 as one of Naples' first structures to use reinforced concrete extensively. Its completion represented a turning point in the city's architectural evolution toward modern construction methods and materials.
The sculptures of Mercury flanking the entrance portal serve as supporting figures and connect ancient Roman imagery with modern design. This blend of classical references in a 20th-century structure shows how the building speaks to Naples' layered past while moving forward.
The building sits at a busy street intersection and is easy to spot and approach from multiple directions. Take a few steps back to see the full facade details, as the marble cladding and sculptural elements are best viewed from a distance.
The facade features a shell-shaped niche above the entrance combined with small projecting balconies along the string course, blending classical ornamental details with modern concrete construction. This level of decorative detail was uncommon in early reinforced concrete buildings, showing how technical innovation and skilled craftsmanship worked together.
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