Six of the seven Voiles of Scampia, in the north of Naples, have fallen or are currently being torn down by excavators. The seventh, the Vela Celeste, will remain standing, even though a skywalk atop it collapsed in July 2024.
The Gomorra backdrop has nearly disappeared.
- Six of the seven Voiles of Scampia have fallen or are undergoing demolition.
- The Vela Celeste is preserved, even as a skywalk collapsed there in July 2024.
- The ReStart Scampia program amounts to 159 million euros.
- The first new buildings total 97 housing units, with keys due to be handed over by late 2026 or early 2027.
Seven Giant Buildings Turned into a Fictional Backdrop
The Voiles consisted of seven monumental buildings designed by architect Francesco Di Salvo. Their concept rested on walkways as broad as streets, intended to transform each block into a small vertical neighborhood. An architectural site notes as much as 14 floors for some of them, though that height is reported by only a single source, so it should be treated cautiously.
Italy first encountered them through Gomorrah, Roberto Saviano’s book and its screen adaptations, which cast these façades as the face of drug trafficking and the Camorra. In the minds of many viewers, Scampia has come to be defined by these walls. The mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, says he wants to turn the page on an image tied almost entirely to the Voiles and the crime narrative. Since October 2022, the district also hosts a university hub, housed in a circular building on Viale della Resistenza and dedicated to health professions.
From 1997 to 2025, a Demolition at a Drip-by-Drip Pace
The first Voile fell in 1997, followed by the others in 2000, 2003, and then 2020. Between the first collapse and the fourth, 23 years elapsed. The pace only quickened with ReStart Scampia, the municipal urban renewal program for the neighborhood.
Five Voiles were down by spring 2026, according to ANSA.
The Vela Gialla was struck as early as March 10, 2025, and the Vela Rossa on December 17, 2025, according to the Naples city administration. The completion of the Rossa’s works was announced for March 2026 by local press, but no firm closing date has been published. By May 2026, the machinery was still at work.
May 19, 2026: Rossa Yields Amid Demolition
In the evening of Tuesday, May 19, 2026, around 10:30 p.m., according to ANSA, a section of the Vela Rossa collapsed. The rubble, equivalent to 6 to 7 floors of the former building, narrowly missed the nearest inhabited block. About 300 people were evacuated, then gradually allowed to return home over the ensuing hours. By midday, roughly fifty residents were still waiting to return.
Residents described a blast-like noise, worse than an earthquake. Early reports suggest the Rossa’s elevator shaft may have given way, though the causes remain under investigation. ANSA issues a warning: there is a need to accelerate the requalification of Scampia.
No injuries were reported, but one more floor could probably have altered the outcome.
The Celeste Preserved, 97 New Homes Across the Street
On July 22, 2024, a skywalk on the Vela Celeste collapsed. The toll, according to Italian Wikipedia, cites 3 deaths, 11 injuries, and 800 displaced people. Yet this building has not been condemned: it is preserved and slated for rehabilitation, according to announcements carried by the press, to house services and social and cultural activities. It sits directly opposite the first new buildings.
The paradox is striking: the other Voiles are demolished while the one that caused casualties is kept. Providing public facilities here is a gamble, and its success will be measured by the trust residents place in it.
On October 2, 2026, the municipality presented the first three new buildings, A1, A2, and A3, totaling 97 homes. They rise on the former Lot M, facing the Celeste. Their ground floors are reserved for shops and community activities, unlike the older Voiles that closed in on themselves.
ReStart Scampia represents a budget of 159 million euros, including 84.5 million from the NRRP, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, complemented by other funds. This envelope covers demolitions, the rehabilitation of Celeste, and the construction of new buildings.
The keys have not yet been handed over: the first deliveries are scheduled for late 2026 to early 2027. According to local press, 188 families are to be served initially, with a new allocation list expected in November. As for the total number of planned housing units, figures vary by source, and 97 remains, for now, the only figure disclosed.
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Sources: en.wikipedia.org | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk | ansa.it
