MAXXI

 Zaha  Hadid  Architects,  2010  

DESCRIPTION  
•  Architect:  Zaha  Hadid  
•  Year  completed:    2010  
•  The  building  has  3  levelss.    
•  Floor  area:  27000.0  m2    
•  Concept:  The  “supple”  building  massing  
takes  cues  from  the  main  direcFons  of  
the  urban  grid  encompassing  the  L-­‐
shaped  site  and  becomes  interwoven  
into  the  site.  
•  The  project  is  one  of  Hadid’s  major  
buildings,  and  was  developed  at  the  
same  Fme  as  her  noFon  of  digital  
parametricism  was  superceding  her  
earlier  intuiFve  and  more  arFsFc  work.  
Her  “digital  turn.”  
•  The  forms  are  abstract,  but  in  plan  they  
resemble  a  railway  juncFon  or  possibly  a  
circuit  board,  adding  to  the  digital  
sensibility  apparent  in  the  design.  
 POLITICALLY  
•  For  Patrik  Schumacher,  Hadid’s  partner,  the  
MAXXI  was  a  radical  theoreFcal  project  “in  
the  sense  of  projecFng  an  architectural  
manifesto  demonstraFng  the  capacity  of  a  
new  architectural  style:  parametricism.”  

•  The  cultural  building  was  considered  a  

perfect  vehicle  for  staFng  the  architects’    
general  architectural  posiFons.    

•  Schumacher:  Parametricism  pursues  the  aim  

of  organizig  and  arFculaFng  the  “increasing  
complexity  of  the  social  insFtuFons  and  life  
processes  of  post-­‐fordist  network  society”  ie  
he  aimed  to  create  a  style  of  complexity  
represenFng  today.  

•  Rome  is  a  city  steeped  in  history  and  had  

only  a  smaller  gallery  for  Contemporary  Art.  
(GNAM)  

•  With  this  building,  the  government  hoped  to  

project  an  image  of  being  engaged  with  the  
cu[ng  edge  in  art  and  architecture.  
 ECONOMICALLY  
•  Client:  Ministero  Beni  e  A[vità  Culturali  –  
Fondazione  MAXXI.  The  museum  is  
commissioned  and  paid  for  by  the  state  not  
the  city  of  Rome.  

•  Cost:  150m  Euro  

•  Hadid  won  the  internaFonal  design  

compeFFon  in  1999.  It  took  11  years  to  
build.    

•  The  project  was  severely  delayed  by  stop-­‐  

start  cash-­‐flow  from  the  Italian  government,  
which  saw  construcFon  on  site  scaled  down  
in  2006/7.  The  delays  drove  up  costs  by  as  
much  as  20%.  

•  The  MAXXI  was  part  of  an  urban  and  

environmental  plan  to  refurbish  a  former  
military  zone  in  the  Flaminio  district  of  
Rome.  
 
•  The  original  director  was  forced  to  leave  in  
2012.  The  bookshop  and  café  are  currently  
closed.  
 SOCIALLY  -­‐  EXTERIOR  
•  Located  in  the  Flaminio  neighborhood  just  
north  of  Piazza  del  Popolo.    
•  The  building  takes  its  cues  from  tangents  
in  the  site  and  becomes  interwoven  with  
the  old  military  barracks  beside  it.  In  this  
way  it  tries  to  integrate  with  its  site.  Many  
locals  do  not  think  it  succeeds.  
•  There  is  a  courtyard  or  plaza  in  front  of  the  
building  which  is  entered  through  a  rolling  
mesh  gate  on  either  side  of  the  site.  This  
was  conceived  as  a  social  meeFng  place  
and  “veritable  urban  agora.”
 SOCIALLY  -­‐  INTERIOR  
•  A  large  central  atrium  is  at  the  entry.  Stairs  
are  the  focal  point.  

•  Some  feel  the  circulaFon  between  the  

linear  galleries  is  confusing,  others  feel  the  
flows  and  pathways  create  dynamic  
intersecFons.  
 
•  Interior  has  am  auditorium,  a  bookshop,  a  
cafe,  and  a  restaurant  which  serve  the  
visitors,  who  are  mostly  internaFonal  
tourists  not  residents.  
 TECHNOLOGICALLY  
•  The  concrete  walls  funcFon  as  30  m  long  
free-­‐span  longitudinal  beams.  
 
•  The  concrete  had  to  be  mixed  on  site,  and  a  
special  self-­‐compacFng,  self-­‐compressing  
and  self-­‐curing  concrete  was  devised.  
 
•  Because  of  the  long  spans  and  canFlevers,  
the  concrete  also  had  an  unusually  high  
level  of  reinforcement  –  up  to  45  kg  per  
sqm,  compared  to  a  more  typical  figure  of  
15-­‐20  kg  per  sqm.  
 
•  Thermal  and  seismic  movement  of  the  
completed  structure  was  also  a  problem.  
 
•  The glass ceiling has fins and louvers
that control the light.
 ENVIRONMENTALLY  
•  The  architect  shows  lijle  interest  in  current  
sustainability  issues  although  she  shows  a  great  
deal  of  interest  in  the  building’s  relaFonship  to  
site  and  in  providing  natural  lighFng.  

•  The  fins  allow  for  the  movement  of  the  ceiling,  

the  glazing  allows  UV  protecFon  for  the  art  
work,  and  grilles  allow  shading  and  adjustable  
louvers.  
.  
 
hjps://www.patrikschumacher.com/Texts/The%20Meaning%20of%20MAXXI.html  
hjps://www.curbed.com/2016/5/16/11683794/zaha-­‐hadid-­‐architects-­‐patrik-­‐schumacher-­‐engineering-­‐legacy  
hjps://inspiraFon.detail.de/maxxi-­‐museum-­‐in-­‐rome-­‐103357.html?lang=en  
hjps://www.archdaily.com/43822/maxxi-­‐museum-­‐zaha-­‐hadid-­‐architects  
hjp://www.arcvision.org/maxxi-­‐naFonal-­‐museum-­‐of-­‐the-­‐21st-­‐century-­‐arts/?lang=en  
hjp://romethesecondFme.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-­‐building-­‐wars-­‐maxxi-­‐vs-­‐macro-­‐romes.html  
hjps://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/desFnaFons/europe/italy/rome/7800085/Romes-­‐MAXXI-­‐gallery-­‐of-­‐
modern-­‐art.html  
 
 REFERENCES