Few buildings in Italy have been as mythologised or misunderstood as the Vele of Scampia. Today, the Municipality of Naples is reshaping the site’s future. With funding from Next Generation EU – PNRR, it is demolishing the buildings to create a human-scaled neighbourhood. More than 2,000 former residents, once calling the Vele home, now form a metropolitan-scale diaspora, awaiting relocation while holding onto a sense of homecoming. As part of this transformation, the Vela Celeste will remain, not as a relic of the past but as a civic space shaped by collective imagination. The Urban Planning Office of Naples is pioneering an innovative participatory approach, integrating AI into the visioning process. Rather than traditional consultations, residents will translate their memories and aspirations into AI-generated images, actively shaping the Vela Celeste’s future.
