When in Rome: Zaha Hadid's new museum for 21st-century art

From the outside, the Maxxi building appears almost modest. Hadid explains that she hopes it will be fashion-proof. Instead, she has reserved her architectural firepower for the interior ... Photograph: Roland Halbe/Roland Halbe

Daylight is ever-present, but the sun is always held at bay, with light filtered through a system of roof-mounted screens Photograph: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images

The stairways rise up through the lobby, with their bare metal treads, disappearing mysteriously into the far recesses of the museum; the effect is cinematic Photograph: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images

This is a museum of just a few galleries, but with a variety of ways of reaching them Photograph: Helene Binet/PR

Should curators wish to create more galleries, floating walls can be hung from the dark concrete ribs snaking along the building's ceilings; these can support a sculpture weighing up to a tonne Photograph: Roland Halbe/Roland Halbe

One walkway projects you out of the main body of the museum, along a glazed path, allowing you to look in at the gallery as if from the outside Photograph: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images

The museum is empty at the moment, but has been busy collecting work by eminent artists and architects of the 21st century. Works by Anish Kapoor, Gerhard Richter and Francesco Clemente will join the archives of architects such as Carlo Scarpa, Aldo Rossi and Pier Luigi Nervi Photograph: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images

This is a building of few colours: black, white, grey and the varied cream of exposed concrete Photograph: ALESSANDRO DI MEO/EPA

The Maxxi consists of five separate buildings leaning against one another, designed to withstand powerful natural shocks Photograph: Pier Paolo Cito/AP

In one sense, this is an old-fashioned building. It was built by local contractors and its curved walls are made of Roman concrete. 'This has been a little like building a medieval cathedral,' says the gallery's project architect Gianluca Racana. Maxxi opens in spring 2010 Photograph: ALESSANDRO DI MEO/EPA