Jaunted

Design / Rome / → All Tags

Basta Meier!

Whoa, the Wall Street Journal is totally harshing Richard Meier's buzz, man. Er, rather, they're covering the to-do surrounding Meier's renovation of the Ara Pacis, an ignored museum constructed during Mussolini's reign to house an altar built by Caesar in 13 B.C.

Needless to say, the selection of an American architect for the project rankled, and the Romans' opinion of the new design to house the altar did not improve much after that. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called it a "monstrosity", and the WSJ's reporter isn't much kinder:

A fan of Rome's aged marble and dusty yellow and rose façades, I admit my first reaction was one of horror. The enormous white, boxy glass structure rises up along the Tiber like a shopping mall in Miami...the huge glass fronting the river with its rows of sunshades looks too big and institutional for the heart of Rome--reminding me of the Munich airport.

She's kinder to the interior, where the sunshades can't be seen and the open, well-lit design is quite pleasant, even if the altar itself isn't all that interesting. In short, people will probably get used to it.

Wait a minute...we like the Munich airport!

[Image via arkfinder/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Meier Makeover [WSJ]