MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo

The MAXXI, Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, is the first national museum dedicated to contemporary arts and architecture. Its genesis originated in 1997 when the then Ministry of Cultural Heritage obtained from the Ministry of Defense, a large area previously occupied by workshops and pavilions of the former Caserma Montello long since disused, in the Flaminio district of Rome.

With the aim of creating a new national museum pole dedicated to contemporary arts, in 1998, an international competition of ideas was announced. The announcement included a complex functional plan, with the presence of various museum poles: a museum for architecture and one for the arts of the XXI century, a space for experimental productions, a library, an auditorium, as well as areas for live events and educational spaces. Chosen among 273 candidates from all over the world, the winning project is the one by the Anglo-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid.

The proposal by Zaha Hadid, extended over an area of 29 thousand square meters, with a large open square in the center, convinces the jury for its ability to integrate into the urban fabric and for the innovative architectural solution, capable of interpreting the potential of new institution and to provide it with an extraordinary sequence of public spaces.

Inaugurated in 2010, MAXXI produces and hosts art and architecture exhibitions, design projects, photography, fashion, film reviews and theater and dance performances.

The MAXXI collections are exhibited in rotation along with temporary exhibitions, while the installations of Anish Kapoor, Sol Lewitt, Maurizio Mochetti are always visible.