The MAXXI

The MAXXI: Zaha Hadid’s, Hon. FAIA, Sinuous Forms Slither Into the Eternal City

The National Museum of XXI Century Arts (or MAXXI) in Rome is one of Zaha Hadid's, Hon. FAIA, most significant projects to date. Hadid's work imagines buildings not as discrete urban objects, but as embodiments of urban energy, activity, and circulation patterns, creating buildings that are integrated, contextual references to the way the city works and moves around them. This design method is successfully exemplified by the MAXXI's relationship to its site. Image courtesy of Iwan Baan.

The concrete museum and its inquisitive windowed cantilever frame a public courtyard outside. Image courtesy of Roland Halbe.

The entrance and reception area of the museum. Image courtesy of Iwan Baan.

The entrance and reception area of the museum as viewed from above and framed by free-floating walkways. Image courtesy of Iwan Baan.

Black steel ramps and stairs are a visual and tactile counterpoint to the museum's concrete. Image courtesy of Iwan Baan.

Metal louvers and shading devices line the ceiling of the museum, letting in and moderating natural light. Image courtesy of Iwan Baan.

Hadid's museum uses a rich combination of natural and artificial light, each of which filters down from the ceiling in thick bands. Image courtesy of Helen Binet.

Without obvious human scaled references, the MAXXI interiors float into pure sculptural abstraction, another characteristic of Hadid's work. Image courtesy of Iwan Baan.

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