Rome in 3D

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«Expert» № 33 (717) /23 August 2010

Rome in 3D

Valentin Dyakonov

The main museum event this summer - the opening in the Italian capital museum of art of the XXI century MAXXI. Around him are already sparked controversy as old as the Eternal City itself: what contemporaneity Rome?

From the standpoint of modern architecture and art in Italy, perhaps the most backward country in Western Europe. This is the fault of two things. The first - the economy. Italy - a country with a very uneven distribution industry are sharply reduced as it approaches the toe of the peninsula wages and, consequently, enormous by the standards of the rich European countries, the contrast between rich and poor in income, and education. In addition, the Berlusconi government is not allocated to culture sufficient funds. In restorers and scientists have much to complaints: historical monuments are gradually destroyed, but because of the crisis of funding does not come at the right volume.

Second - Italy is conservative. For millions of tourists in this lies its charm. Italy and the art - synonyms. Here, almost any, even a god-forsaken place you can stumble upon a masterpiece of Renaissance titanium. Tourism in Italy, everything depends, and small and large businesses. Therefore, any initiative in the field of contemporary art cause only limited interest: the image of the country they can not add anything substantial. The most famous Italian painter of modernity, Maurizio Castellana, lives in New York. Another star of Italian origin, Francesco Vetstsoli, much more like the ocean, rather than at home.

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museum for a city-museum

Italians are very skeptical of attempts to build something modern in its city-museum. Shortly before the opening MAXXI mayor of Rome, Giovanni Aleman announced plans to either demolish or move somewhere very avant-garde building in Rome, a pavilion, which houses the shrine of the Roman era of Emperor Augustus - the altar, known as the Ara Pacis. The work of American architect Richard Meier will not name other than modest: white marble, glass staircase, like a ruin. But the pavilion since opening in 2006 was subjected to severe criticism. Meyer blamed the fact that he chose not to enter the building to the environment. Its construction was compared with the fascist Mussolini era architecture in Italy (which admittedly is a compliment, since the era of Mussolini gave birth to several hundred per cent of masterpieces).

But MAXXI as if surrounded by the magic chalk circle. This building is much more ruthless to the urban environment of Rome, than the pavilion Meyer. Nevertheless fiercest critics of Zaha Hadid's a little bit.

Courage to the Roman authorities, we can only envy. Still fresh in the memory of the history of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Several years ago, director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev chose the project Eric Moss, who, like MAXXI, absolutely do not fit into the historic fabric of the city. Progressive Petrograders rejoiced, but after public tenders and project approvals all over the project, like a supermarket average hand, and on Moss forgotten like a nightmare.

Rome went straight to the end. And apparently, the townspeople got another reason to be proud. At least, reviews of international criticism overwhelmingly positive. Critic New York Times, for example, welcomed MAXXI these words: "Faith in Rome in Zakho Hadid and a new world that she is completely justified ... An entire generation of Romans can now leave the house with the feeling that the dialogue with the past in the city will no longer be one-sided . He believes that MAXXI would come to taste Pope Urban VIII, the patron of the Roman Baroque, and the bright representative of this trend sculptor and architect Bernini Dzhanlorentso.

For its EUR 150 million Italians received an architectural marvel, an irrational kunshtyuk with unique character. But not only. With the opening of MAXXI bind best hope for change in the conservative cultural politics of the country. For those who are not ready to live in a museum under the open sky area of 300 square kilometers, MAXXI area of 29 square kilometers represents the wind of change. The opening of the museum coincided with the presentation of a new wing of the Roman Museum of Contemporary Art (MACRO) and fair under the motto "The road to modern art." MACRO architect Odile December happily ushered in an interview with the influential newspaper, Corriere della Sera: «The city has finally awakened from a long sleep and decided to become relevant."

Pasta with futurism

Primarily a work of art in MAXXI yet is the building itself. Him and presented for six months before the museum itself: 12 November 2009, a crowd of journalists, lay people and personal friends Zaha Hadid has already had an opportunity to properly consider the interiors. Surprisingly, MAXXI became only the thirteenth realized project Hadid, also the largest building, which she's ever done.

Zakho Hadid called starchitect, architect of the star. She is one of the most respected and innovative architects of the planet. The main feature of the stars of architecture - is, on the one hand, the presence of a rich client base throughout the world, from New York to Dubai and on the other - a huge amount of unrealized, but the daring projects. Invite this architect to participate in any competition is a big success. But before the construction work often does not reach as bold stars faced with opposition of local authorities. Norman Foster, for example, will not deal with the expansion and restructuring of the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin, even though the museum's director, Irina Antonova, seen in this role only to him. Daniel Libeskind is not given to construct a building on the site of the twin towers in New York, commissioned work is much more restrained architect of the local, which took into account the interests of developers and community organizations. The share of Zaha Hadid's fallen quite a few disappointments in customers. The most severe befallen her in the UK - a country where the native of Baghdad, he has lived since 1980. In 1994, her office won the tender for the restructuring of the National Opera Wales. But the local elite closed up in unison with the working class and put the project into question. It seemed unreasonable price, but the shape of the building is associated with Mecca - the local authorities feared the anger of Muslims.

With Russia Hadid associates participated in the contest to build a museum in Perm (third place) and a love of Russian avant-garde, which was quite a sensation when she went to school the Architects' Association in London. Hadid has formed his style under the direct influence of Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. The Swiss gallery Gmurzhinskoy even made the exhibition of Russian avant-garde projects and Hadid - all of its projects begin with abstract drawings and paintings. Its architectural thinking is often called the art too, and indeed, even in the abstract sketches the methods it uses are not transferable to the real stuff, such as blur the lines. No less significant role in her work is the computer. Program to create 3D-models - the main tool of the modern architect. They give an incredible freedom of action, because the design can be anything, any curved line, any volume. Checking the reliability of these structures is also automated, the architect enough to drive parameters (material, soil density, etc.). So there is architecture, not dependent on the context of the building, grown in the laboratory flask.

In contrast to the pavilion area of Rome's Ara Pacis, which was erected MAXXI, not the most picturesque - an unremarkable military barracks Montello. Top of the building resembles a railway crossroad. Several S-shaped volumes nalezayut each other. The interior is filled with spectacular staircases and hills, on which the drawing is usually architects and pulled away: here we can remember, and building an art fund Caixa Madrid, was built in the Spanish capital duo Herzog de Meuron, and the Kiasma Museum in Helsinki of the American Steven Holl, the author of one of the best museum houses the U.S. - Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas. Hadid's as if the audience dictates the routes, arranges the ceremonial walkways between floors and compartments. The abundance of smooth forms of forced Italians to christen MAXXI «pasta, and this comparison seems appropriate.

"Whether it's airport, I would have understood, but the museum ..." - wrote an anonymous commentator on Italian site architecture. It is called, is not in the subject. Museums have long imitated public places. Era temples of art was over forty years ago, when in Paris, the Englishman Richard Rogers and the Italian Renzo Piano built the Pompidou Centre. Building resembling a train station in half with a supermarket, has become the reference framework for the modern art museum. Statics dynamics changed. The more that the viewer takes in order to understand a work of art itself is so fascinating museum environment. The Museum is regarded as a living organism within which scientific work is in full swing, there is interaction with art and with the audience. The concept of a dynamic museum and museum touched filling. The Centre Pompidou used revolutionary for its time the system moving walls, from which we can build a space of any shape. In MAXXI Zaha Hadid went even further. Initially, she wanted to paintings hung to the iron designs and pictures to hang in the air. This idea was rejected but the options for working with exhibition space in MAXXI nevertheless provided a lot.

Perhaps Pope Urban VIII really liked the courage to Hadid. In the era of Baroque architects sought to build so that the building was smooth, one with a minimum of right angles. And the Roman architects really were the first in this style. Oval dome of the Church of St.. Charles in four fountains, built by Borromini Federico, miracle baroque thought, is no less modern than MAXXI. In the use of curved volumes Hadid continues to Baroque. The museum has several references to the glorious traditions. For example, if all forms of madness in front of MAXXI is an atrium, a classic piece of Roman architecture. A black banisters on the background of the raw concrete color scheme reminiscent of the library Laurentsiany, a masterpiece of Mannerism, which was built on a drawing by Michelangelo.

Let the association with the classic Roman look strained. In the history of Italy, there are examples closer. The main fan MAXXI, probably would have been the Italian Futurists. In their manifesto, published in 1909, the group leader Filippo Tommaso Marinetti urged to blow up the museums. Hadid's style is often called deconstruction - a free shuffling architectural elements. She embodied the dream of futurists, blew up a classic museum and turned it into a set of dynamic lines. Recall that the "dynamism" - a favorite word of Futurism, who sought in painting and sculpture to convey the motion of the train, car or bird.

Provincial globalism

So, half the work done. Build another world-class masterpiece. And what about the museum itself? After all, he can not just be building. Should be a collection, exhibitions, attendance. And here it MAXXI facing several problems that delayed indefinitely.

With attendance so far everything is fine - thanks to the architect. During the three days since the opening of a museum visited by 74,000 people, as reported by the newspaper La Repubblica. Employee of the Ministry of Culture of Italy Mario Rossi MAXXI compares with the recently opened Museum of the Acropolis in Athens, who attended for a year and a half million people. If the influx of visitors interested in the first several centuries of architectural a wonder of Italy, did not fail, at MAXXI have a chance to repeat the success of a Greek museum.

However, long-term strategy for MAXXI not. The museum's collection is so far out of 298 items - is ridiculously inadequate, and other private foundations, Spain, France and Germany speak a few times a lot of things. Of these, 169 purchased the collection, 95 donated, the rest came from other sources (for example, moved from other public meetings). Top Hits MAXXI given as a gift Milanese galeristka Claudia Gian Ferrari, which is not surprising: Milan, unlike Rome, boasts a more or less developed, the art market. Gian Ferrari was a great enthusiast, built the Museum of Modern Art in Milan, but the project is Daniel Libeskind faced with a crisis and temporarily moved. Galeristka handed MAXXI legendary video Matthew Barney Cremaster 5, the huge canvas German Anselm Kiefer, installation of French star Christian Boltanski "Veronica" and other works, whose total cost is higher than the price of the rest of the collection. There is a museum and Warhol, although late, is not the most well-known, there is Bill Viola - early and not very expensive.

The first exhibition here was a retrospective of Italian artist Gino De Dominicis. The peak of its activity occurred in 1970. Curated by Achille Bonito Oliva spoke, an art critic, famed as the ideologist of the movement transavangardistov, Italian painters of the 1980's, now almost forgotten. The choice of the organizers of the caused a mixed reaction. Renowned curator Francesco Bonami calls the museum «MAXXI-failure" and expressed great surprise that the Museum of the XXI century art project called Oliva, a man of last century, and works Dominicis, a painter, for Italy irrelevant. Museum workers defend their choice: first Italian to be understood that preceded the new millennium. Near Dominicis show projects functionalists Italian Luigi Moretti. This is logical: Moretti worked on the last major attempt to modernize Rome - the area failed because of World War II World Fair of 1942, known as the EUR.

EUR was an example of failed modernization era of fascism. MAXXI may fall into a similar historic trap. Entirely welcome appearance as a progressive museum Italians hampered by the fact that it was built in the era of Silvio Berlusconi. Would not the present, embodied in MAXXI, over time, a symbol of showing off, erected in difficult times for the country, and even on public money?

I recall another example of the history of relations between Italy and modernity. In Naples there is the subway. It regularly falls into the subways ratings of the most beautiful in the world. Indeed, each station is similar to the contemporary art gallery. The design is bordered on genius. Did it help to Naples? None. The city does not become a safe, comfortable place to live. The crime rate has not decreased. Economic growth ... Oh it can be temporarily forgotten. But the stream of visitors has not dried up. Everybody wants to visit the Museum of Capodimonte, look at the Caravaggio, to go to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Tourists do not confuse the devastation and filth on the streets. They are pleased with emotional outbursts of local, on the verge of stabbing. And in Rome we admire Catholicism, because he left behind works that we love. Although in the context of contemporary European liberal church can not be called otherwise than a repressive machine.

Will MAXXI proof that Italy has entered into a global world, it's still a question. But a brilliant gamble by Zaha Hadid has blended into a complex and controversial history of the Eternal City and delivered yet another brilliant example of showing off in a politically uncertain times.

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