Peace Causes Unrest

I read an editorial the other day about the ongoing controversy surrounding the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome. The Museum was designed by Richard Meier to house the Ara Pacis, an Altar of Peace dating from 9 BC and the emperor Augustus. The building opened in 2006 and has apparently been a sore topic for some Romans since. The mayor of Rome has even suggested that it be torn down, his argument being that the building, a Modern structure, is incompatible with its surroundings.

Kim and I recently visited the Ara Pacis Museum while in Rome--it was one of our favorite buildings! We walked to the Museum after a morning of visiting the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. Our leisurely walk took us across the Ponte Sant'Angelo and along the Lungotevere, the busy street that runs along the banks of the Tiber River. We welcomed our arrival to the Piazza in front of the Museum as a respite from the traffic, its cooling waterwall drowning out the sounds of the cars around us.

As an architect, I will be one of the first to acknowledge that some of Meier's details are a little bit funny. However, they did spend money on some important things, like mitered corners on the travertine walls. I felt that the museum was light, airy, and a perfectly suitable display case for the restored and reconstructed Ara Pacis. I do not quite know what the Mayor has in mind for a replacement, but my personal fear is that a building in a classical or traditional style could end up competing for attention with the beautiful Ara Pacis itself.

Call me a Modernist, but the simple lines and subdued palette of the building stood out in welcome contrast to the Baroque extravagance that permeates so much of Rome. Don't get me wrong, architecture in Rome in general is exceptionally beautiful. However, sometimes even too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. Meier's building could rightfully be considered a critique of Rome's classical environment, but in my eyes, it is such a visually subdued and simply elegant construction that it is by no means trying to compete with its surroundings.

In light of the controversy I mentioned above, I did discover one detail that struck me as odd when I read Wikipedia's entry on the Ara Pacis. In 1938, Benito Mussolini had the Ara Pacis moved from the outskirts of the city to its present site and commissioned a building to house it. Though I was not able to find any photographs of the Ara Pacis' previous home, judging by some of the other monumental architecture constructed around Rome during Mussolini's reign, Meier's Museum may actually be much more respectful of its context than the previous building anyway!