LENS – Exhibitions Cycle #01
Roma nel Mondo – MAXXI, Rome
through April 26, 2026
by Karin Bergher
architect, creative director of communications and graphic design, Nemesi Architects
LENS was born out of a desire to put curiosity and mindfulness back at the centre, to broaden our view of the world and continue to talk about beauty and current events, even as our environment — complex and polluted — sometimes seems to be falling apart.
A less than perfect Sunday.
One of those occasions where you end up going out anyway, even if the children (aged eight and twelve) aren’t exactly thrilled, and the idea of an exhibition requires a little persuasion. It happens, even in families accustomed to visiting cultural venues. Yet it is precisely from these imperfect starting points that, at times, the most authentic experiences arise.
In this sense, MAXXI – the National Museum of 21st-Century Arts – is already part of the answer. Not just a museum, but a place: a lively square, a welcoming threshold, a space that invites you to stay, with that rare sensation, in Rome, of contemporaneity that really works.
You step inside, and the tone is already just right.
A narrative that was missing
Rome in the World, curated by Ricky Burdett — an internationally renowned urban planner — represents an ambitious and long-overdue project for our city. The exhibition does not portray Rome as an eternal icon, but as a contemporary urban organism. Through a comparison with seventeen global metropolises — from Paris to Tokyo, from New York to Addis Ababa — it explores the data, dynamics and structures that today determine the quality of urban life: space, mobility, the environment and society.
What emerges is a complex and surprisingly multifaceted portrait of the capital: a plural, layered, and at times contradictory city that cannot be reduced to a single judgement.
This is not a fragmented narrative. It is a complex, detailed and surprisingly accessible map.
Credit must be given where credit is due: alongside Burdett’s curatorial work, the contribution of Lorenza Baroncelli, Director of the Department of Contemporary Architecture and Design at MAXXI, has been fundamental in making this research direction possible and guiding it.
And then there is the visual touch of the Rome-based Studio Mistaker, which has translated the enormous mass of data into accessible infographics: legible, beautiful, precise. A work of information design that deserves to be recognised as an integral part of the project.
The design as a tool for interpretation
To those who view the exhibition through a design lens — whether architectural, graphic or curatorial — it reveals an additional quality: the coherence between content and form.
The visual composition is carefully calibrated and deliberate. Colours, contrasts, graphic hierarchies and materials work together to make the complexity accessible without oversimplifying it.
It is not merely beautiful. It is right.
The section ‘Rome in the World’s Imagination’ — curated by Paola Viganò with Maria Medushevskaya — then introduces a marked shift in tone: the dominance of data gives way to works of art, texts and photographs.
From Freud to Giulio Paolini, from Martin Parr to Robert Venturi with his fragment for ‘Roma interrotta’ (1978). This plurality of perspectives — scientific, artistic, literary — makes the exhibition not only informative but deeply reflective. It recognises that the imaginary is not an alternative to urban reality: it is an active layer of it, capable of influencing its form and its perception.
A suspended moment: the model
Then you enter a different space. And here the exhibition makes its most surprising transition: from display to experience.
In the centre of the room stands a large physical model of the entire Municipality of Rome — seven metres by seven, on a scale of 1:7,500, created by Modelab based on a concept by Ricky Burdett and Marco Galofaro. Comprising 953 tiles, it is made entirely of terracotta: an ancient artefact produced using digital technology, CNC-printed, textured and tangible.
The contrast between the ancient material, technology and the fluidity of the visual narrative — the mapping, the voices, the animated data — is perfect. It is not a contradiction: it is balance.
All around,
steps and cushions.
You sit down.
Or rather: you stretch out.
And you gaze down on Rome from above, as the city tells its story.
It’s one of those moments that stay with you.
A necessary exhibition – and a minor flaw
Rome in the World is, first and foremost, a necessary exhibition. Because it builds a body of knowledge that should endure, be updated and evolve — almost like a permanent platform for interpreting critical issues, identifying urban challenges and guiding future transformations.
A living snapshot, to be observed over time. And yet it is surprisingly accessible. Clear, open and understandable even to those outside the sector. For families, for the curious, for those who love to view their surroundings through different eyes.
There is, however, one small drawback – a point that, as an enthusiast, I feel I must mention: the catalogue fails to fully capture the quality and depth of the exhibition. It would have deserved editorial care and a physical quality more in keeping with the standard of the exhibition.
I didn’t buy it, and I regretted it. I would have liked to have taken a memento of it home with me.
A change of perspective
On the way out, a simple question: What did you think of it?
The answer came straight away: It was lovely. And this from someone who, just a short while earlier, hadn’t been particularly keen on the idea.
And perhaps this is the most sincere measure of the value of a cultural experience: the ability to generate engagement without forcing it. To open up a space for curiosity where it was not expected. Surprise generates curiosity. And curiosity is what allows us to question, to transform, to progress.
This first event in the Exhibition Cycle stems precisely from this.
From the possibility — and the necessity — of changing perspective.
Because sometimes all it takes is a slight deviation from the usual path, adopting a different language, to discover unexpected narratives.
And so Rome, once again, surprises us.
And appears – if possible – even more beautiful.
The exhibition has been extended until April 26: there is still to explore it at your leisure and let yourself be surprised.
MAXXI – National Museum of 21st-Century Arts Via Guido Reni 4, Rome – KME Gallery Tuesday to Sunday, 11am–7pm | Closed Mondays Full price ticket €15 | until April 26, 2026
This story will continue, exploring different perspectives and sensibilities, and welcoming other voices as well.
