Ara Pacis Augustae

Richard Meier & Partners – Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome Italy, 1995-2006

The Ara Pacis Museum belongs to the System of Museums in the Municipality of Rome; contains the Ara Pacis of Augustus, inaugurated on 30 January of 9 BC In 2006 he replaced the previous reliquary of the architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo, built in the 1930s to protect the monument.
A work by Richard Meier, built in steel, travertine, glass and stucco, it is the first major architectural-urban intervention carried out in the historic center of Rome since the time of Fascism: it is a structure with triumphal characters, with clear references to the Roman imperial style. It rises above the ground and recalls the Mausoleum of Augustus on the left of the architectural artefact, while large glass surfaces allow you to admire the Ara Pacis in uniform lighting conditions.
The color white is the trademark of Richard Meier; the travertine slabs that decorate part of the building are instead the result of changes made by the architect during construction (originally aluminum surfaces were planned), after a review of the project following the controversy that arose with some nostalgic of the old case, built in 1938.