The design of the building housing the new national contemporary art and architecture exhibition centre was selected as a result of an international architectural competition organized by the Special Superintendency of the National Gallery of Modern Art at the behest of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage in 1998.
Among the 273 entries, the design by the Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid convinced the jury through its ability to integrate with the existing urban fabric, thanks in part to its innovative and highly creative architecture. The complexity of the forms, the curvilinear walls, the varying and intersecting heights define a spatial and functional structure of great interest for visitors who are led along ever different and unexpected paths. Multiple environments in fact co-exist in a sequence of galleries illuminated with natural light. The great full-height foyer houses reception services and leads to the auditorium, the galleries displaying the permanent collections, to exhibitions and cultural events and through to the spaces dedicated to the cafeteria and bookshop.