premiato PASTIFICIO AFELTRA
Gragnano, NaplesPremiato Pastificio Afeltra is the only pasta factory in Gragnano, a historic pasta-making centre on the outskirts of Naples, to have survived the many difficulties that have followed over the centuries. The restoration and re-functionalization of the 19th-century pasta factory – an imposing building embellished with majestic portals carved in Vesuvian stone – has allowed both the continuation of its original function and its opening to the public with an exhibition and restaurant centre, creating a link between production and use.
A path has been projected from the ground floor hosting exhibition and audiovisual rooms, a sales point and a tour of the production mechanisms. The first floor is used for conference rooms and meeting points. The top floor houses the “maccheroneria”, a large open dining area that stages and “tells” the story of pasta as if it were in the streets at the height of the nineteenth century: wooden structures hanging from the ceiling reproduce the old trellises for drying pasta, the “spasa” of pasta set out in the open for drying in the sun, on terraces or in the street. The furniture has been designed as partitions, equipped to frame the products and their packaging, photographs and period documents, to immerse the visitor in the richness and continuity of the tradition.
