The Museum and the Urban Dimension

The ‘900+100 project amplifies the connection between the Arengari and the city. Urbanistically, the new glass arch and bridge connecting the buildings creates two civic spaces at the street level, one facing Piazza Duomo and the second facing Piazza Diaz, revitalizing this currently neglected area south of the central plaza. Expanding its reach into the city, the arch continues the telescopic perspective that from Piazza Scala, through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza Duomo, reaching Piazza Diaz and the Torre Martini. Together with the new gallery on the terrace level of the Manica Lunga which regenerates Piazza Diaz, the new interventions create vital exhibition space for the museum, and offer new points of view towards the city.

Contemporary A

The ‘900+100 project responds to the emerging  need of a new and more open public cultural space, where traditional art exhibitions coexist with amenities engaging visitors.

In designing the ‘900 +‘100 Center for Contemporary Art, our vision was to create a place that promotes engagement and collaboration, responding to the needs of both the Museum and its community.

The project aims to create a dialogue between the majesty of the historical building and its contemporary renewals. The enlarged museum deliberately preserves most of the spaces in their original state, as it wishes to emphasize their historical value while giving them a new contemporary definition.

Accessible, Universal, Flexible

Key to successful 21st Century museum, expanded permeability, through apertures and connecting stairs and bridges, strengthens opportunities for artist activation and audience engagement, and a perception of openness and inclusivity in the new public spaces.

With the ‘900 + 100, with the transformation into a more inclusive organization, the museum can align its new role in a contemporary society which is more open, accessible and untimely flexible and adaptable to ever-changing needs of contemporary cultural  expression.

The proposal both reflects on the Monumental nature of the Arengario and proposes a democratic response with the introduction of new connective elements

Connections

The intervention is intended to fortify the image of the Museo del Novecento as an active cultural space and a symbol of modernity, openness and change. The design is based on intersection of a horizontal  loop on the lower level that connect the public forum, auditorium bookshop and café, and a vertical loop and creating opportunties of curatorial strategies for both temporary and fixed exhibitions.

The elements providing this connectivity are multiple:

The Glass Arch

The primary architectural element, a translucent glass arch, which includes connecting bridges at two levels ( the Loggia level and the 2nd Floor ) unifies the two Arengario winds, offering museum guests and the public numerous physical connections between the separate wings.

The Public Forum

A second, and equally important zone of connection between the 2 Aregenarios is a light filled underground Public Forum, located directly beneath the new public plaza framed by the glass arch above. This multifunctional space, top-lit by an array of apertures, can be programmed for exhibitions, lectures and performances, but serves as a public Foyer, connecting the wings of the NovecentopiuCento together, linking them to the newly created Auditorium found in the lower level of Arengario 2 to the underground urban transportation system, and the ex-bunkers, possible future gallery spaces.