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The 27,000 square metre centre is Italy’s first national public
museum of comtemporary arts and features two museums – MAXXI Art and
MAXXI Architecture.

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See photos of the construction of MAXXI by architectural photographer Hélène Binet [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

See all our stories about Zaha Hadid [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Here’s some text from Zaha Hadid Architects followed by a description from MAXXI:
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In the words of Zaha Hadid
‘An interesting thing about the museum in Rome is that it is no
longer an object, but rather a field, which implies that many programs
could be attached to the museum. It’s no longer a museum, but a centre.

Here we are weaving a dense texture of interior and exterior spaces.
It’s an intriguing mixture of permanent, temporary and commercial
galleries, irrigating a large urban field with linear display surfaces.
It could be a library; there are so many buildings that are not
standing next to, but are intertwined and superimposed over one another.

This means that, through the organizational diagram, you could weave
other programs into the whole idea of gallery spaces. You can make
connections between architecture and art – the bridges can connect them
and make them into one exhibition.

That gives you the interesting possibility of having an exhibition
across the field. You can walk through a whole segment of a city to
view spaces. In Rome, the organization will allow you to have
exhibitions across the field, but they can also be very compressed, so
you have a great variety.’
- Zaha Hadid

The Project by Zaha Hadid Architects
The MAXXI relates to the urban context in which it is inserted by
re-proposing the horizontal development of the former military
barracks, in opposition to the taller residential buildings that
surround the site. The geometric structure of the project is aligned
along the two grids that regulate the urban structure of this part of
the city.

The reinterpretation of these two geometric structures within the
proposal generates the surprising geometric complexity of the campus.
Sinuous lines harmonise the overall scheme and facilitate flows across
the site, mediating between the two urban axes.

The pedestrian path that crosses the campus follows the soft lines
of the museum, slipping under its cantilevered volumes. The interior of
the building presents visitors with a glimpse of numerous views and
openings that cross the structure: on the one hand protecting its
contents between its solid walls, on the other inviting visitors to
enter through its large glazed surfaces on the ground floor.

The main idea behind the project is directly related to the
objective of creating a building for the presentation of the visual
arts. The site is “furrowed” by exhibition spaces, the walls that cross
its spaces, their intersections defining interior and exterior space.
This system works on three levels, the second of which is the most
complex and richest, with it various bridges that connect the building
and the galleries. Visitors are invited to dive into a dense,
continuous space instead of confronting the compact volume of an
isolated building.

The interior space, defined by the walls of the display galleries,
are covered by a glass roof that floods the spaces with natural light,
filtered between the roof trusses. These latter reinforce the linearity
of the spatial system and assist the articulation of the various
directions, overlappings and bifurcations of the system of gallery
spaces. The honed linearity of the walls facilitates circulation
through the campus, inside the galleries and between the objects on
display.

MAXXI: A Campus for Culture
The MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts, instituted by the
Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, is Italy’s first
national public museum dedicated to contemporary creativity. The
definitive home of the museum, designed by Zaha Hadid (winner of the
1999 international design competition) is currently nearing completion
in Rome’s Flaminio neighbourhood, on the site of the former Montello
Barracks. Since 2003 an experimental and innovative construction site
has been working to complete this new, ultramodern museum.

The complex is home to two distinct institutions: MAXXI Art
(directed by Anna Mattirolo) and MAXXI Architecture (directed by
Margherita Guccione), focused on promoting the arts and architecture
through the collection, conservation, study and dissemination of the
most current movements. To date, the MAXXI Art collection contains over
300 works by such artists as Boetti, Clemente, Kapoor, Kentridge, Merz,
Penone, Pintaldi, Richter, Warhol and others of equal fame.

The MAXXI Architecture collection features the personal archives of
Carlo Scarpa, Aldo Rossi, Pierluigi Nervi and others, as well as
projects by contemporary architects such as Toyo Ito, Italo Rota and
Giancarlo De Carlo, together with the photographic collections of the
Atlante italiano and Cantiere d’autore projects.

Designed as a campus of arts and culture, the multi-disciplinary and
multi-functional MAXXI is also a new urban space open to the entire
city. The MAXXI’s 27,000 m2 contain – in addition to the two museums –
an auditorium, a library and media library, a bookshop, a cafeteria,
temporary exhibition spaces, various open spaces for live events,
commercial activities, workshops and spaces of study and recreation.

Open to the city and the world, the MAXXI aims to become a point of
reference for public and private institutions in Italy and abroad, for
artists, architects and the general public. The integration of Zaha
Hadid’s project within the fabric of the city is made possible by an
architectural solution that develops the idea of an urban campus. In
fact, the MAXXI casts aside the idea of the “closed” building in favour
of a broader dimension that extends the interior spaces into the
exterior spaces around the building, open to the entire neighbourhood.

The two museums – MAXXI Art and MAXXI Architecture – rotate around a
large, double storey atrium, the point of connection with the permanent
collection galleries and temporary exhibition spaces, the auditorium,
reception area, cafeteria and bookshop. Outside, a pedestrian path
follows the shape of the building, slipping under its cantilevered
volumes and restoring an urban connection interrupted for almost a
century by the former military structure.
In opposition to the decisive architectural sign that dominates the
exterior spaces and the atrium, a more sober spatial quality
characterises the exhibition halls that host the collections of the two
museums. A combination of glass (roof), steel (stairs and columns) and
concrete (walls) defines the neutral appearance of the display spaces,
while moveable panels ensure the flexibility of their use.
The fluid and sinuous forms and the variation and interweaving of
different levels– assisted by the modulated use of natural light –
combine to create a highly complex spatial and functional experience
that offers continuously different and unexpected views, from the
interior towards the open spaces. The project is characterised by two
primary architectural elements: the exposed concrete walls that delimit
the exhibition halls and determine the intertwining of volumes, and the
transparent roof that modulates and filters natural light. Finally, the
roofing system contains all of the various equipment required by the
museum’s functions: it integrates operable glazing, natural light
filtering devices, artificial illumination and environmental control
systems.
MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo – via Guido Reni, 2f 00196 Roma

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Posted by Marcus Fairs from dezeen.com