Inhabiting the ruins of the present

Curated by Giulia Fiocca and Lorenzo Romito, the exhibition at the MACRO museum stems from the project Agency for Better Living, presented at the Austrian Pavilion of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.

The exhibition was conceived specifically for the spaces of the museum and invites visitors to reflect on one of the most urgent socio-political issues of our time (the theme of dwelling), starting from what has happened in recent years in Rome, a city unique for its ability to regenerate itself over time, with new urban and social ecologies generated from grassroots processes of reuse and renewal. Casale De Merode, Lago Bullicante ex Snia, Porto Fluviale, and Spin Time are among the experiences examined in the project: examples of how the “ruins of modernity” have been inhabited to meet needs and desires left unanswered by society.

Installations, archival materials and visual narratives offer an unprecedented portrait of the city as a laboratory of coexistence and coevolution, where everyday life intersects with institutional planning, a fertile dialogue opens up a new perspective on urban regeneration.