Richard Meier's luminous glass-and-travertine pavilion on the banks of the Tiber — a serene modern shelter built around the Ara Pacis, the Altar of Peace consecrated for the emperor Augustus. The first major contemporary building in Rome's historic center in decades, it was controversial on arrival but offers a calm, light-filled setting that lets the ancient marble altar breathe. For visitors, it's a thoughtful pairing of old and new: a masterwork of Augustan sculpture, with its intricate processional reliefs, presented inside a piece of restrained contemporary architecture that frames rather than competes with it.
Location
Lungotevere in Augusta
Centro Storico, Rome
Centro Storico, Rome
meierpavilionaltar