ITALY OPENS FIRST NATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM

ITALY IS OPENING ITS FIRST NATIONAL MUSEUM FOR THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE IN A BID TO SHED ITS IMAGE AS MERELY A KEEPER OF A GLORIOUS ARTISTIC PAST. THE $223 MILLION MAXXI CULTURAL CENTER OPENS 14.NOVEMBER, FOR A LIMITED WEEKEND RUN BEFORE ITS FULL-FLEDGED OPENING IN THE NEW YEAR. THE MUSEUM, LOCATED IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA OF ROME, WAS DESIGNED BY ZAHA HADID, THE IRAQI-BORN ARCHITECT WHO WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE PRESTIGIOUS PRITZKER ARCHITECTURE PRIZE IN 2004. THE CULTURE MINISTRY DECIDED TO BUILD THE MUSEUM IN 1998, RECOGNIZING THAT THE COUNTRY THAT PRODUCED GIOTTO, MICHELANGELO AND BERNINI, THE AVANT-GARDE ARTISTS OF THEIR TIMES, MUST CONTINUE TO PROMOTE CONTEMPORARY CREATIVITY IF IT WANTS TO HAVE A CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE FUTURE. THE CENTER, OFFICIALLY CALLED THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE XXI CENTURY ARTS, IS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF CUTTING EDGE ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS TO BE BUILT I THE ETERNAL CITY, WHICH IS BETTER KNOWN FOR ITS ROMAN RUINS, BAROQUE BASILICAS AND RENAISSANCE PALAZZI. RENZO PIANO'S AUDITORIUM OPENED IN 2002, GIVING ROME ITS FIRST MAJOR-LEAGUE CONCERT HALL. MORE RECENTLY AND CONTROVERSIALLY, RICHARD MEIER'S ARA PACIS MUSEUM, WHICH HOUSES A 2,000 YEAR-OLD ALTER, OPENED IN 2005. CRITICS COMPLAINED THE BOX-LIKE SHELL WAS A MODERN BLOT IN ROME'S HISTORIC CENTER. NO SUCH PROTESTS BEFELL HADID'S DESIGN, WHICH IS LOCATED ON THE GROUNDS OF A FORMER MILITARY BARRACKS IN ROME'S FLAMINIO NEIGHBORHOOD, FAR FROM THE COBBLESTONED STREETS OF THE CENTER BUT CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE REACHED ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND NEAR THE NEW CONCERT HALL. HADID SAID SHE INTENDED THE SPACE TO BE AN 'URBAN CULTURAL CENTER', AND ARTS CAMPUS WITH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR EXHIBITION SPACES. THE BUILDING ITSELF; A SLEEK, WINDOWED BOX ON TOP OF A BOX, IS MADE OF CEMENT WALLS, STEEL STAIRS AND A GLASS ROOF, GIVING THE GALLERIES A NEUTRAL BACKDROP ILLUMINATED BY FILTERED NATURAL LIGHT.
HADID IS BEST KNOWN FOR HER TRAM STATION IN STRASBOURG AND HER VITRA FIRE STATION IN GERMANY, WHICH WAS CITED BY THE PRITZKER JURORS IN AWARDING HER THE 2004 PRIZE, ARCHITECTURE'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS HONOUR. MORE RECENTLY, SHE DESIGNED THE AQUATICS CENTER FOR THE 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS, THE GAMES' ARCHITECTURAL SHOWPIECE.