This museum on the
bank of the Tiber River has been designed as a renewed setting for the Ara
Pacis, a sacrificial altar dating to 9 B.C. and now located on the western edge
of the Piazza Augusto Imperatore. Planned as part of an effort to protect Rome’s cultural legacy, the new structure replaces the monument’s previous
enclosure, which was in a state of advanced decay. The structure consists of a
long, single-story glazed loggia elevated above a shallow podium providing a
transparent barrier between the embankment of the Tiber and the existing
circular perimeter of the mausoleum of Augustus, built circa 28 B.C.
The altar was
relocated from the Campo Marzio in 1938 during the Mussolini era, and a system
of regulating lines was applied to the project to relate the altar’s present
position to its original site. Bisecting the distance between the present
center of the mausoleum and the original site yielded a four-square urban grid
that was used as a proportional frame to reorganize the piazza and its
surroundings. An artificial obelisk is used as a historical reference on the
north-south axis through the altar.
The clarity of the
volumes and the building’s proportions relate in scale to Rome’s ancient
structures. A predominating feature of the new building is a glass curtain wall
measuring 150 feet long and 40 feet high. The asymmetrical entry hall, defined
by seven slender columns in reinforced concrete finished with white waxed
marble plaster, leads to the main hall, which houses the Ara Pacis. The
contrast between the subdued lighting of the entrance space and the expansive
top-lit and rigorously symmetrical main hall encourages a naturally progressive
circulation. The roof over the main hall rests on four columns with skylights
to maximize natural lighting and to eliminate “false shadows.” Outside the main
structure, a low travertine wall extending from within the main hall traces the
ancient shore of the Tiber River. Building materials include glass and concrete
and an indigenous fine beige Roman travertine.
Although housing and
protecting the ancient altar was the main focus of this museum, the building
also provides space for temporary exhibitions and installations dedicated to
archaeological themes and a state-of-the-art digital library of Augustan
culture. An outdoor roof terrace above the auditorium functions as an essential
part of the circulation of the museum and includes a contiguous bar and café
with views over the Mausoleum of Augustus to the east and the Tiber River to
the west.
Architects: Richard
Meier & Partners
Location: Rome, Italy
Project Year: 1995-2006
Location: Rome, Italy
Project Year: 1995-2006
source : http://www.archdaily.com/
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