This Stadium in Naples is Made of Containers
There is a stadium in Naples made of containers, and it’s turning the port into an art-meets-football colosseum. Built for the cultural Coppa Pizzeria tournament, this 250-container arena blends performance, sport, and spectacle. It challenges what a stadium can be, just for 48 hours.
Why and How It Was Built
Artist Daniele Sigalot created this extraordinary container stadium to host the 13th edition of Coppa Pizzeria, a two-player football tournament that became a sort of performance art in the area. Located in Naples’ port, the arena rises nearly 60 meters high and envelops a circular pitch, constructed from 250 stacked shipping containers assembled by port workers in just 48 hours. The lower containers serve as changing rooms while upper levels offer avant-garde spectator areas, reminiscent of a modern Colosseum. Sigalot, known for his “monument to nothing” ethos, sought a venue that dissolves after use, reinforcing the event’s ephemeral nature. Matches feature no strict rules, a free bar, costume contests, and audience interventions — making every game as much about chaos and creativity as it is about football. Fun fact: grassroots players dressed as dinosaurs, gladiators, or even Subbuteo figurines, while goals scored by sober players didn’t count — emphasizing spectacle over sport.
Art, Culture, and the Future of Stadiums?
Sigalot’s “container colosseum” stands as a bold experiment in civic reuse and cultural reinterpretation. It mirrors large-scale projects like Qatar’s Stadium 974 while amplifying absurd theater through costumes and rule-bending football. As spectators climbed within its rusty ranks, the structure blurred boundaries between audience and players, echoing participatory art movements. Though ephemeral, the installation proves that industrial infrastructure can be repurposed for collective performance and community engagement. Plans are already underway to take Coppa Pizzeria to Venice during the Biennale d’Arte 2026 — showing that, container by container, Sigalot is redefining how we experience sport and space.
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