MAXXI

MAXXI, the Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture located in the Flaminio neighborhood of Rome, Italy. Established to address the city's lack of a major modern art institution, it serves as a national center for 21st-century creative practices. The museum is managed by the Fondazione MAXXI, a foundation created by the Italian Ministry of Culture. Housed in a globally recognized building designed by Zaha Hadid, the institution functions as a creative laboratory dedicated to the intersection of contemporary art, architecture, and design.

In 1998, the Italian Ministry of Culture, driven by Mayor Francesco Rutelli, initiated a project for a national contemporary art museum and launched an international design competition. From fifteen finalist proposals in 1999, the jury selected Zaha Hadid as the architect. Construction began in 2002 on the site of a former military barracks and concluded in 2007, followed by two years of interior arrangement and collection development. The museum officially opened in late May 2010, five years behind schedule, with a Gino De Dominicis retrospective inaugurating the space. The project cost 150 million euros. By 2012, severe budget cuts reduced the foundation's state funding to two million euros annually, prompting the resignation of founding president Pio Baldi and his deputy, who were succeeded by ministry secretary Antonia Pasqua Recchia. Giovanna Melandri later assumed directorial leadership.

The museum is divided into two distinct entities: MAXXI Art and MAXXI Architecture, the latter being Italy's first national museum of architecture. The permanent collections grow through direct acquisitions, commissions, thematic competitions, awards for young artists, donations, and permanent loans. MAXXI Art focuses on contemporary international and Italian art, while MAXXI Architecture collects architectural models, drawings, and archives. The institution also maintains a photographic collection and the Centro Archivi, which conserves and provides public access to documents, drawings, photographs, and books related to architecture. The Gian Ferrari collection is also housed within the museum.

The art collection features works by prominent Italian figures such as Francesco Clemente, Giuseppe Penone, Gino De Dominicis, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz, Maurizio Cattelan, and Vanessa Beecroft, alongside international artists like Gerhard Richter, Anish Kapoor, William Kentridge, Kara Walker, Ed Ruscha, Gilbert & George, Marlene Dumas, Kiki Smith, Thomas Ruff, and Yayoi Kusama. The architecture collection holds models and archives from Alessandro Anselmi, Giancarlo De Carlo, Paolo Soleri, Rem Koolhaas, Vittorio Gregotti, Francesco Cellini, Luigi Moretti, Jean Nouvel, Carlo Scarpa, Aldo Rossi, and Pier Luigi Nervi. The photography collection includes works by Olivo Barbieri, Gabriele Basilico, Mimmo Jodice, Luigi Ghirri, and Ugo Mulas.

Built on the site of the late 19th-century Caserma Montello military barracks in the Flaminio district, near Renzo Piano's Auditorium Parco della Musica, the building incorporates parts of the former barracks. Hadid's original competition entry proposed five separate structures, but only one was realized. The L-shaped complex features interlocking exposed concrete volumes that flow over and under one another. The interior is defined by expansive galleries, inclined walls, undulating floors, ramps, and curves, illuminated by natural light from large glass facades. Freestanding black staircases connect the floating levels. The 27,000 to 29,000 square meter structure includes a 10,000 square meter urban campus, with 5,700 square meters for art and 3,400 for architecture, plus an auditorium, library, and an outdoor courtyard for large-scale works. The design won the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize in 2010, though it also drew criticism for prioritizing architectural spectacle over the display of artworks.

The museum is located via Guido Reni in the Flaminio neighborhood of Rome. It operates under the Fondazione MAXXI, established by the Italian Ministry of Culture, and offers a broad pedagogical program alongside its exhibitions, workshops, conferences, and performances. On October 30, 2020, the institution expanded with a branch in L'Aquila, the capital of the Abruzzo region. MAXXI L'Aquila is housed in the eighteenth-century Palazzo Ardinghelli, which was severely damaged in the 2009 earthquake and subsequently restored by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism with additional funding from the Russian government.