Top of the World
Hadid's Maxxi is a project in which light is the material of the design, vertically constrained and diffused to serve the exhibition spaces. Hadid's great gift to Rome is an elegant, lively, well-balanced place that makes it easy to follow contemporary art exhibitions without excessive distractions, as a space for contemporary exhibitions should be. he project (1998-2009) addresses the question of its urban context by maintaining an indissoluble relationship with the former barracks, in an attempt to give continuity to an urban fabric characterized by buildings lower than the high blocks surrounding the site. In this way, the Centre looks more like an "urban graft", a second skin of the place it inhabits. The Campus thus becomes a world in which to immerse oneself. Rather than around key points, the project is organized and oriented on the basis of directional flows and density distribution. All this underlines its general character: porous, immersive, an open space. Multiple environments coexist in a sequence of galleries illuminated by natural light filtered through a special roof system. The large full-height hall houses the reception services and leads to the auditorium, the galleries for the permanent collections, the exhibitions and the spaces dedicated to the cafeteria and bookshop.
