The winner of the programme dedicated to the new generation of architects is a new installation in the Museum’s square for you to inhabit and explore. Quintessenza (Quintessence) is the project by the Grazzini Tonazzini Colombo group, winner of the new edition of NXT, the MAXXI programme dedicated to promoting a new generation of architects and enhancing public space.

Designed as an abstract volume with a strong plasticity, Quintessenza is a sequence of vertical surfaces in galvanised sheet metal, a scenography, a device shimmering and reflecting through surprising plays of water. A place devised to welcome the Summer at MAXXI, as well as a space to relax, play, and learn while visiting and spending time in the Museum’s outdoor spaces.

On the one hand, the silver tones of the cladding recall those of the concrete and pillars of Zaha Hadid’s structure; on the other, they reference the industrial history of the square that hosts it. The choice of materials, which either come from previous use or are destined for reuse after the installation’s dismantling, minimises the entire project’s carbon footprint.