Viva Zaha!

Set back from the street in the middle of a block, overlooking a gravel plaza in Flaminio, Rome, Italy, a quiet neighbourhood populated by early- 20th-centry apartment buildings and a former army barracks, an old factory building – itself having transformed into a gallery for temporary exhibitions – obscures much of the smooth
south-facing concrete façade volumes, and the long curved wall of the main galleries creates a northern shield. The path approaching MAXXI from the northwest along Via Luigi Poletti follows the convex exterior, narrowing as it approaches the main entry, to create a false sense of acceleration. The momentum continues inside, where corridors extend like wandering tendrils from the central lobby, and a massive black staircase ascends the vertical space, its end disappearing into a narrow crevice, tempting patrons to venture forth and discover the deeper secrets hidden within. The galleries themselves are not mere box-shaped rooms – which really would be unheard of in any noughties-era modern art gallery, let alone a Hadid-designed one – but rather a series of long intertwining bands, unfurling at times to lengths of 300 feet throughout the volume space.

Like that disappearing staircase the curves create a forward momentum fuelled by curiosity and the lighting. A glass skylight divided by metal fins that run the full length of the room, combined with another layer of steel grids shelter the artwork from harsh direct sunlight, while still tempting patrons forward with sporadic glimpses of open sky. To avoid truly constant movement – which could impede the absorption method of gallery exploration, in which one stops to drink in each artwork for as long as desired – the galleries themselves can also be segmented into smaller portions by a series of hanging partitions.

Hadid conceived this space not as a signature object, but as an entire “world” to dive into: an immersive field space characterised by circulation and porosity. The theme of momentum is labelled as “drift”: experiential navigation devoted to the “polyvalent density of the 21st Century”. This is an intentional shift away from the 20th century’ preference for a completely neutral, white-on-white display space. Here, the museum speaks, and it does so with a resonant voice. The concrete box of an upper-level gallery projects out over the entrance, looming forward at a menacing angle that evokes Hadid’s BMW factory in Leipzig, Germany. A towering lobby contains MAXXI’s bookstore, café and information counter, all scattered informally around the space.

The New York Times has suggested that Hadid’s museum will always overshadow the masterpiece it was designed to show off, but then, one could say the same of Gehry’s Guggenheim and even, to an extent, The Louvre. One thing is for sure: Hadid’s Regium Waterfront in Reggio Calabria, Italy, will be a quintessential ‘Zaha’ piece: two buildings – a museum and a multifunctional performing arts space – following a sleek, fantastical, manta-like form, which seems to float mysteriously on the edge of the Mediterranean sea in the narrow strait between Sicily and the mainland. The Museum of Mediterranean History will house exhibition spaces, restoration facilities, an archive, an aquarium, and a library. Hadid drew inspiration from the form of a starfish, using radial symmetry to facilitate communication and circulation between different spaces, just as with MAXXI. The Multifunctional Building, on the other hand, will comprise three separate elements united by a partially covered piazza, made distinctive by its sinuous ‘tendons’, like bleached, sea-worn whale bones. Inside, the building will house administrative offices for the museum, a gym, local craft laboratories, shops, and a cinema, as well as three different auditoriums, which can also be converted into one large entertainment space. Due for completion in 2014, the Regium Waterfront speaks in a voice quite different to the subtle coaxings of MAXXI. Rather, this project was intended as a highly-visible, outspoken catalyst, through which the region of Reggio Calabria will be transformed into a cultural capital, visible across the water from the nearby Sicilian shores. From the eternal city to the “toe” of the Italian peninsula, Zaha’s new landmarks are sure to rejuvenate this ancient land. +

IMAGES Courtesy & Copyright of Zaha Hadid Architects, Iwan Baan, Roland Halbe.

1. Againt other “Zaha” pieces, MAXXI is comparatively understated – a homage to raw grey concrete on the exterior, with a bold but neutral black-and-white palette on the inside.

2. In a classic “Zaha” twist – seen before in her Leipzig,
Germany BMW Plant – a concrete box looms over the main entrance. The gallery space within benefits from exposure to natural lighting, and acts as a lit beacon for the museum.

3. Hadid has used the contrasting stairways like artists’ brushstrokes, emphasising the role of continual movement as the physical and symbolic core of MAXXI.

4. At the heart of this Multifunctional Building, the piazza is partially shaded by connective ‘tendons’: an adventurous design intended to create spectacle.

5. One half of the Regium Waterfront project in Reggio Calabria, Italy, the Museum of Mediterranean History will appear to float on the edge of the Mediterranean.

6 . A Multifunctional Building will make up the second half of the Regium Waterfront: three separate elements connected by a centrally-located piazza.

7. Inside, the Museum will feature exhibition spaces, restoration facilities, an archive, an aquarium, and a library.