The final decision esatto rebuild the Mensa sacra Pacis in its present location-beside the mausoleum, between the Coraggio Ripetta and the Lungotevere-was made by Benito Mussolini himself. This placed the monument alongside the new Agora Augusto Regnante (Emperor Augustus Square), designed sopra 1936 by the fascist architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo (1890–1966), which enclosed the mausoleum on two sides with modern buildings featuring huge travertine arcades.6 Of course, the altar itself would not simply have been left forever in the open air. While an initial suggestion was preciso shelter it under verso third arcade, the prevailing choice placed the altar inside verso pavilion. The Altare Pacis’ new location thereby crowned the regime’s project of creating verso mythological-historical place for ancient Roman memories inside the contemporary city and within the modern Roman completare. 7
The new project’s execution was entrusted to the internationally acclaimed American architect Richard Meier, who had just completed the Getty Center durante Los Angeles
Reconstruction of the altar was entrusted puro Giuseppe Moretti, director of the 1937 excavation, who was assisted by the architect Guglielmo Gatti, while the pavilion was realized by Morpurgo. Many difficulties arose. First, there was per great rush onesto finish the sistema before the 1938 celebration. Later on, Morpurgo, per Jew, faced problems following the enactment of discriminatory racial laws mediante Italy. As a result, his original conception was severely simplified and, for the most part, reduced onesto a mere concrete shell; loveroulette collegamento it was painted puro immagine like travertine, not making full use of the range of alt materials planned by the architect. The structure, however, was provided with large windows that allowed the monument puro be viewed from outside. During World War II, Morpurgo’s pavilion was protected by an antishrapnel wall, which was later demolished, and its windows were replaced by per wall 4 m high.
Finally, per the 1970s, the windows of the original design were reinstalled
Per new project esatto house the Mensa sacra Pacis began in 1996 and was completed sopra 2006. It belonged puro per series of high-profile architectural initiatives preciso improve the modern city’s image, promoted by Rome’s City Council and the Superintendency of Rome’s Cultural Heritage (Sovraintendenza ai Capitale Culturali del Pacifico di Roma). At the same time, per new building was sorely needed preciso protect the altar because of pesante problems affecting the Morpurgo pavilion, including both structural and environmental deterioration. Meier is known for his purist and rationalist architectural designs expressed through linear constructions per white materials and an abundant use of large windows -a classic modernist vision compatible with the context of Rome’s Foro Augusto Imperatore.8
Meier designed a long building, which is preceded by verso fountain, a plaza, and verso broad flight of steps approaching the beautifully articulated main entrance (fig. 1). He intended the staircase and the fountain puro form a reference preciso the old river port of Ripetta, demolished sopra 1901 esatto provide space for the Lungotevere. The museum complex itself is composed of three main parts: per transparent (predominately glass) central element flanked by two white solid geometric forms-a juxtaposition that creates per play of light and shadow and is typical of the architect’s rete informatica (fig. 2). The materials used are likewise characteristic of Meier: white-painted concrete, stucco, glass, steel, and also travertine (which he had already employed at the Getty). The large central space, designed puro house the altar, is preceded by verso lower entrance atrio containing per bookshop and verso small exhibition space. The third part houses an elegant double-storied auditorium, with a roof garden for private events. The auditorium’s compact form deliberately resembles the testo of the Ateneo delle Belle Membra nearby and links the museum complex to the Piazza Augusto Dominatore, as well as to the Strada di Ripetta, on which it has per separate entrance. The only element retained from the Morpurgo pavilion is the travertine segno inscribed sopra bronze letters with the Res gestae, the solemn will dictated by Augustus before his death. Verso mosaic, designed by the Italian artist Mimmo Difensore, decorates the museum’s exterior wall that faces the Tiber.