The first museum of contemporary arts on a national level in Italy, the Maxxi Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo in Rome opened for a weekend preview on November 14th before its full opening to the public scheduled for spring 2010.
In reality two museums – Maxxi Art and Maxxi Architecture – the complex will provide flexible urban space for both indoor and outdoor exhibitions.
Designed by the British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid - the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize and the designer of the aquatics centre for the 2012 London Olympics – Maxxi is built in concrete and steel with a glass roof which will allow natural light to illuminate many of the exhibits.
It is built on the site of a demolished barracks in the residential Flaminio area of the city so there have been no protests about its style being out of keeping with Rome’s older artistic treasures. In fact the architects have been praised for bringing fresh shapes into Rome.
The Museum enjoys the full support of the Culture Minister Sandro Bondi who wants Italy to shed its image as a mere guardian of the art of previous centuries and forge ahead into the artistic future. Pio Baldi, the President of the Maxxi Foundation, has said that the Museum will become a research workshop and factory of creativity as well as housing the archives and new exhibitions of some of Italy’s most famous living artists.
Mr Baldi sums up the Museum’s cultural mission in three words: innovation, multiculturalism and interdisciplinarity.
MAXXI National Museum of the XXI Century Arts - Via Guido Reni 4a - 00196 - Roma - Official website.
Would you include Maxxi on a list of buildings to see in Rome?
