The Belly of An Architect - a visit to MAXXI
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I returned this week from a short break in Rome, which is the most inspirational City in many ways - not least for the amateur architecture nut. For some, architecture leaves them cold. But not me, it gets me in the gut. Some see lifeless concrete, glass and steel. For others, it's the very zenith of human endeavour. More so than the ephemeral flight to space or navigating the depths of the oceans. Architecture then is the very essence of creativity and engineering, artistry and mechanics, beauty and science. All these skills and disciplines become fused and at its best, great architecture can, in a glimpse or a lengthy exploration, move you. Architecture is literal and substantial; in a word it is real, and if never truly permanent, it does at least (usually) come into existence with the aim of out-living the architect. In Rome, that life can be centuries; a wonderful longevity for any form of art.
Photos of Rome can never really do it justice. In the 1987 Peter Greenaway film Belly of An Architect, the troubled architect Kracklite (brilliantly played by Brian Dennehy) dines in Piazza della Rotunda. He joins his symmetrically positioned hosts and they all stand to applaud the building as "Great architecture should be always be applauded". The church bells ring out across the City to echo the sentiment. In Piazza del Popolo, the mirrored Churches create a wonderful symmetry, but then you notice the icing on the cake...the Corso that cuts between them for over a mile leads perfectly to the grotesque "wedding cake" monument to Vittorio Emanuele II.
The trip to Rome had many highlights, but the best (architectural) moment was saved to last and was the not found in the Renaissance piazzas, by the photogenic fountains, or the glories of ancient Rome, or even amidst the twentieth century mistakes (see wedding cake above) that make it such a rich experience. It was twenty-first century creation, Zaha Hadid's MAXXI museum.
MAXXI is unforgettably good. It won Zaha Hadid an overdue RIBA Stirling prize. It is a fitting near-neighbour to its world-famous landmark cousins a few miles of shoe leather away in the tourist trampled centre. It is sharp, thoughtful, provocative and amusing.
Inside, in one sense it is like a gigantic Apple Store, with enormous white walls, illuminated glass staircases and a deliberate coolness about place and function (dimmed lighting in the cloakroom giving it a lounge feel to check in your coat). It teases you along through its wide spaces and galleries on numerous levels. We explored a fascinating exhibition about Pier Luigi Nervi - an architect who created the nearby Olympic venue. Having watched the Greenaway film, the incidental echo with Kracklite's own exhibition about Boullée amused me (well perhaps only ever me). An exhibition about great architecture within a new architectural marvel seemed appropriately narcissistic. It is though fittingly and elegantly done. Outside the MAXXI there is another experience again. I noticed another twist. In the film Alien, three of the crew struggle across the stormy planet surface in search of a distress signal. Then they see the ancient ruin of the ‘crashed’ spaceship; like a crustaceous “bio-mechanical” life form, its shape bizarrely contorted on the moonscape. I looked up at the protruding Gallery balcony of the MAXXI. Had Zaha, busy lady that she is, taken inspiration from late night TV?
Then I realised it was sunny day in Rome and there was a Piazza café table with my name writ large, a cold Pinot Grigio, pasta and gelato. My belly was calling.
Great architecture should always be applauded, at least until lunch.
