Discover MAXXI

MAXXI — the Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, the national museum of twenty-first-century arts — is Italy's national museum of contemporary art and architecture, in the Flaminio district of Rome. It is managed by a foundation created by the Italian Ministry of Culture.

The building was designed by Zaha Hadid and won the Stirling Prize of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2010, the year it opened. It took more than ten years to build, on the site of a former military barracks — the Caserma Montello — incorporating parts of it.

It is really two museums under one roof. MAXXI Art covers contemporary art; MAXXI Architecture is Italy's first national museum of architecture, dedicated to modern and contemporary Italian and international work. The outdoor courtyard wrapping the building is itself a venue for large-scale pieces.

The permanent collections grow by direct acquisition, commission, thematic competition, awards for young artists, donation and permanent loan — an assembly method that says a good deal about how recently the institution began.

MAXXI — the Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, the national museum of twenty-first-century arts — is Italy's national museum of contemporary art and architecture, in the Flaminio district of Rome. It is managed by a foundation created by the Italian Ministry of Culture.

The building was designed by Zaha Hadid and won the Stirling Prize of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2010, the year it opened. It took more than ten years to build, on the site of a former military barracks — the Caserma Montello — incorporating parts of it.

It is really two museums under one roof. MAXXI Art covers contemporary art; MAXXI Architecture is Italy's first national museum of architecture, dedicated to modern and contemporary Italian and international work. The outdoor courtyard wrapping the building is itself a venue for large-scale pieces.

The permanent collections grow by direct acquisition, commission, thematic competition, awards for young artists, donation and permanent loan — an assembly method that says a good deal about how recently the institution began.

It is a fragment of a bigger idea, and that explains almost everything about how it feels. Hadid's winning 1998 entry proposed five separate structures. One was built. The ramps, bridges and suspended stairs inside were drawn to connect a complex that does not exist, so the circulation keeps setting off toward somewhere and arriving at a wall or a void. Read as a whole building it is baffling; read as one fifth of a plan it is coherent.

It is not free-standing, and was never meant to be. The site was the Caserma Montello, a military barracks, and parts of it were incorporated into the new building rather than demolished. The Hadid forms run up against older masonry, and the junctions are where the building is most legible.

The interior is about movement rather than rooms. Black stairs hang in the main volume, balustrades are lined in red, concrete ribbons curve overhead and daylight comes down through clerestory glazing the full length of the space. The galleries are consequences of the circulation, which is the reverse of how a museum is usually planned — and the reason a visitor's memory of MAXXI is of walking through it rather than of standing in it.

The courtyard counts as part of the building. The outdoor space wrapping the museum is a venue for large-scale works, not a forecourt, and it is the best place to understand the massing before going in.

It was won on paper in 1998 and took more than a decade to stand up. An international design competition for the museum building was won by Zaha Hadid, whose submission comprised five separate structures. The museum then took more than ten years to build, and opened to the public in 2010.

Only one of the five was completed, and that is the single most useful fact about the finished building. Everything a visitor finds disorienting — ramps that set off and stop, stairs suspended across a volume that seems to want to continue — is circulation drawn for a complex that was never finished. The building is not badly planned; it is a fifth of a plan.

It was built on top of the army. The site was the Caserma Montello, a former military barracks, and rather than clearing it the project incorporated parts of it into the new structure. That decision is why the museum is not a free-standing object in a park, and why its edges are more interesting than its front.

It was decorated with acclaim before it had a collection. The Royal Institute of British Architects gave it the Stirling Prize in 2010, the year it opened, and the Guardian called it "Hadid's finest built work to date" and "a masterpiece fit to sit alongside Rome's ancient wonders". The permanent collections, by contrast, have had to be assembled since — through acquisitions, commissions, thematic competitions, awards for young artists, donations and permanent loans.

What is MAXXI? Italy's national museum of twenty-first-century arts, in Flaminio — two museums in one building, MAXXI Art and MAXXI Architecture, the latter Italy's first national museum of architecture.

Who designed the building? Zaha Hadid, who won an international competition for it in 1998. It opened in 2010 and took the Royal Institute of British Architects' Stirling Prize the same year.

Why does the inside feel unfinished? Because it is. Hadid's winning scheme was five separate structures and only one was built, so the ramps and suspended stairs were drawn to connect a complex that does not exist.

Is it open on Mondays? No. Tuesday to Sunday, 11.00 to 19.00, last admission 18.00. Also closed 1 May and 25 December.

What does it cost? €15.00 at the box office, €14.00 online — online is cheaper here, unlike the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Reduced is €12.00 and €11.00 online for 18-to-25-year-olds who have not yet turned 26.

Is the membership worth it? At €18 for a year it costs less than two full tickets, and it carries reciprocal arrangements with the Castello di Rivoli, Sotheby's Preferred and the MEP in Paris.

What was there before? The Caserma Montello, a military barracks. Parts of it were incorporated into the museum rather than demolished.

Is there a permanent collection on display? The collections exist and grow by acquisition, commission, competition, awards, donation and loan — but the programme is exhibition-led, so check what is up before going.