Zaha Hadid´s museum opens in Rome

The MAXXI Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid , is the latest and most ambitious project to try to refresh the Italian capital's image of a decadent city bent on its glorious past.

"My work just really stems from the fact that we can make new juxtapositions with the old," Hadid told The Associated Press during Thursday's preview opening. "The idea of connecting between the old and new is very critical."

From the outside, the museum looks like a wide structure that expands horizontally rather than vertically. Built on the grounds of a former military barracks — of which a facade is still recognizable — MAXXI is located in a residential neighborhood outside the city's historic center.

Officials unveiling the opening exhibit Thursday stressed the link between old and new, their belief that a city and nation that have been on the avant-garde of art and architecture for centuries should be promoting contemporary arts.

For Hadid, who became the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, the challenge was to work with the "layers" of Rome's artistic past and bring a new space for art in the city. She recalled visiting Rome in the 1960s and posing in front of the Trevi Fountain, a masterpiece of Baroque art.

"Rome has fantastic light," Hadid said. "The idea of this project is about layering and bringing in light to the space so that you have a naturally lit space — and to give the curators tremendous freedom in the way they can organize exhibits."

Timesonline
Telegraph