The final decision puro rebuild the Mensa sacra Pacis durante its present location-beside the mausoleum, between the Strada Ripetta and the Lungotevere-was made by Benito Mussolini himself. This placed the monument alongside the new Centro Augusto Sovrano (Emperor Augustus Square), designed mediante 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 con the open air. While an initial suggestion was preciso shelter it under a third arcade, the prevailing choice placed the altar inside a pavilion. The Ara Pacis’ new location thereby crowned the regime’s project of creating a mythological-historical place for ancient Roman memories inside the contemporary city and within the modern Roman pigiare. 7

The new project’s execution was entrusted sicuro the internationally acclaimed American architect Richard Meier, who had just completed the Getty Center durante Los Angeles

Reconstruction of the altar was entrusted onesto 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 a great rush onesto finish the sistema before the 1938 celebration. Later on, Morpurgo, verso Jew, faced problems following the enactment of discriminatory racial laws durante Italy. As verso result, his original conception was severely simplified and, for the most part, reduced preciso per mere concrete shell; it was painted to immagine like travertine, not making full use of the range of fine 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 a wall 4 m high mobili loveandseek.

Finally, durante the 1970s, the windows of the original design were reinstalled

Verso new project sicuro house the Ara Pacis began per 1996 and was completed sopra 2006. It belonged esatto verso 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 Naturale di Roma). At the same time, per new building was sorely needed onesto protect the altar because of grave 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 -per classic modernist vision compatible with the context of Rome’s Piazzale Augusto Sovrano.8

Meier designed a long building, which is preceded by per fountain, per plaza, and per broad flight of steps approaching the beautifully articulated main entrance (fig. 1). He intended the staircase and the fountain puro form verso reference puro the old river port of Ripetta, demolished mediante 1901 onesto 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-per juxtaposition that creates a play of light and shadow and is typical of the architect’s rete di emittenti (fig. 2). The materials used are likewise characteristic of Meier: white-painted concrete, scagliola, glass, steel, and also travertine (which he had already employed at the Getty). The large central space, designed sicuro house the altar, is preceded by per lower entrance hall containing a bookshop and a small exhibition space. The third part houses an elegant double-storied auditorium, with verso roof garden for private events. The auditorium’s compact form deliberately resembles the tomo of the Accademia delle Belle Arti nearby and links the museum complex onesto the Largo Augusto Regnante, as well as preciso the Inizio di Ripetta, on which it has a separate entrance. The only element retained from the Morpurgo pavilion is the travertine affatto inscribed in bronze letters with the Res gestae, the solemn will dictated by Augustus before his death. A mosaic, designed by the Italian artist Mimmo Propugnatore, decorates the museum’s exterior wall that faces the Tiber.