The main concept of the new Maxxi Museum, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is directly linked to the purpose of the building as a centre for the exhibition of visual arts. The walls that cross the space, and their intersections, define interior and exterior spaces of the museum. This system acts on all three levels of the building, the second of which is the more complex - with a surfeit of connections by various bridges that link buildings and galleries. The visitor is invited to enter a series of continuous spaces, rather than the compact volume of an isolated building. The interior spaces, defined by the exhibition walls, are covered by a glass roof that flood the galleries with natural light filtered by the louvered lines of the roofing beams. Long lines bend around the L-shaped site, becoming anything from drains through staircases to exhibition galleries. Made of concrete and covered with white translucent PVC, the staircases are the seamless inter-weaving of different threads. The visitor inhabits those highways " staircases are made from the same shapes, allowing those below to see those above. At Maxxi museum, it seems that nobody walks; instead, everyone glides, as if Hadid's forms were
moving walkways. It is, of course, a well-engineered trick for visitors to see the museum without any art: it shows off the building's geometries and forms.
Link: www.zaha-hadid.com