MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts – ROME
May 29, 2026 – November 15, 2026
Eighty years of the Republic and Italian architecture: ideas, projects, and visions that have shaped the present and look to the future.
The exhibition, curated by Pippo Ciorra and Elena Tinacci, is introduced by interviews with some of the most established figures in Italian architecture – Stefano Boeri, Maria Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo, Massimiliano Fuksas, Renzo Piano, Franco Purini, Elisabetta Terragni, Paola Viganò, Cino Zucchi – and by an installation-tribute to the Monument to the Fallen in the Nazi Extermination Camps by Studio BBPR in Milan, reinterpreted by Matilde Cassani.
The initial section consists of a collection of archival materials, focusing on the major cultural and social themes addressed by architects and urban planners in democratic and neo-republican Italy. This was an era in which Italian architecture “reclaimed its momentum,” fueled by public initiative, generating major projects that helped shape the nation’s image.
We then delve into the heart of the exhibition narrative, with projects by eight successful and internationally renowned Italian studios: DEMOGO, MoDus Architects, Giulia De Appolonia, Francesca Torzo, Studio Labics, Barozzi Veiga, ELASTICO Farm, and Kuehn Malvezzi. These are exponents of the so-called “Erasmus generation,” born between the late 1960s and early 1980s, and are presented in the exhibition from two different perspectives. The first is a photographic project, a commission for which Allegra Martin created a portrait of a manifesto-work for each studio. The second is a large table on which each artist was able to summarize their approach to working.
The exhibition concludes with a review of the freshest and most promising energies in Italian architecture, with the section presenting the finalist projects of NXT, the program through which MAXXI invites young designers to propose an installation to be hosted in the museum’s outdoor space during the summer. The exhibition includes materials relating to the winning project of NXT 2026, which has become part of the museum’s collection: Rubato by the HPO collective. Also on display are this year’s four finalist projects, proposed by the groups Associates Architecture, Atelier Vago, Facchinelli Daboit Saviane, and m²ft architects.
