The new wing in Rome by Odile Macro Decq

Rome curtain rises on the new wing of the Macro, the proposed extension of the municipal museum of contemporary art signed by the French Odile Decq. The inauguration took place on the same days of official opening of the Zaha Hadid MAXXIin a weekend of contemporary art, during which the capital celebrated the conclusion of a journey that two important works of contemporary architecture have traveled parallel .

The draft Odile Decq, winner in 2001 of international competition from the Capitol, has consisted in expanding the existing tunnel, located near the old brewery Peroni, for two thousand additional square feet of new exhibition spaces.

An important part of the project – a new path system along with a new building – takes place in infrastructure, on 3 levels of underground reserved parking areas (totaling 143 seats), the local technicians and deposits for the works.
Space located within a central foyer which leads to the large exhibition hall, a reading room enclosed in a red book, a projection room, a bookshop, the Art Café and a large terrace which corresponds to the coverage of the museum.
Metal stairs and walkways stretching across the foyer to the large exhibition hall allowing multiple paths between the interior but also towards the terrace.

The garden is home Aylenthus tall, planted in a pavement covered with basalt gravel. A Z-shaped path, treated with the same stone, shaped a new promenade that leads to the entrance of the museum.
Made of large volumes of vertical glass walls of the exhibition hall alternate fixed parts to large folding doors opening respectively in the foyer and Article café on the ground floor.
The foyer, the museum’s central core that articulates the different spaces, each contains three volumes: the ticket office, conference room and toilets. All of the foyer is covered with basalt stone. The predominantly black intended to evoke the former industrial use building.

To color the “heart” of the museum, the auditorium, the French designer has chosen the red full red outside, covered with red lacquered wood panels, as well as inside on all sides.

Among the different spaces that surround the foyer, the most important is the exhibition hall. A large faceted glass on the roof, the glass which is integrated in a steel frame, provides a filtered light.
The structures apparent left, whose height varies between 10 and 12 meters also allow the suspension of works. The walls are doubled by the woodwork painted white to facilitate subsequent anchors.