Which building by Zaha Hadid won the 2010 RIBA Stirling Prize? The answer is MAXXI, Rome’s National Museum of the 21st Century Arts.
MAXXI was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and completed in 2010 in Rome’s Flaminio district. Its name is short for Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo. Rather than following a conventional gallery grid, the museum uses sweeping concrete walls, curving circulation routes, skylights and overlapping volumes to create a sense of movement.
The RIBA Stirling Prize is one of Britain’s leading architecture awards, normally recognising a building with an especially important contribution to the built environment. MAXXI’s win was notable because the museum is in Italy, but the prize recognised the work of a RIBA-eligible architect and international fellow. Hadid’s firm won again in 2011 for Evelyn Grace Academy.
A common mix-up is Guangzhou Opera House, also designed by Hadid and completed in 2010. It was not the 2010 Stirling Prize winner. MAXXI later became one of Hadid’s signature cultural buildings and helped cement her reputation for futuristic, fluid architecture.