Best Building of the Year

Best Building of the Year

#zahahadid #rome #museum #award #architecture

The Zaha Hadid-designed MAXXI(National Museum of XXI Century Arts) Museum in Rome was announced as a winner of 2010 "World's Best Building of the Year" during the third annual World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Barcelona. Jurors included Arata Isozaki, Barry Bergdoll, Enrique Norten, and Hanif Kara. When Zaha Hadid entered into competition in 1999 for Museum design, she employed only 30 people. Today, her staff numbers more than 350 and she is building major projects around the world.

Due to its complex geometry, the building is not easily understandable at first. On both the inside and the outside, the museum works as a series of connected ribbons, a composition that conjures the spirit of Baroque architecture with its play of convex and concave forms. And like buildings designed by Borromini and Bernini, MAXXI manipulates daylight in an almost mystical way - bringing it in from above, through glass roofs shielded by metal grilles, adjustable louvers, and concrete fins.

Earlier this year, the Royal Institute of British Architects announced MAXXI Museum the winner of the2010 Stirling Prize with £20,000 award.