Martha Masli-ARCH1390: Regium Waterfront Project

Regium Waterfront Project is Zaha Hadid's latest project in Italy, in the Mediterranean city of Reggio Calabria. The project includes a museum and a performing arts centre on a sea strait that separates continental Italy from the island of Sicily. The centre will be visible from the Sicilian coast.

“I am absolutely delighted to be working in Reggio Calabria. The project will be a gathering place for people of all ages – presenting the Mediterranean’s rich and diverse history with visual and performing arts to enhance the cultural vitality of the city; providing an essential venue for discussion and discourse where the public engages with the spaces and with the exhibitions. This connection between culture and public life is critical; as what differentiates museums of the 21st Century from the previous century is that the client is no longer simply one patron. The client is the public – it’s many people, which makes this project really exciting.” states Zaha Hadid.

"The form of the museum draws inspiration from the organic shapes of a starfish. The radial symmetry of this shape helps to coordinate the communication and circulation between different sections of the museum and its other facilities. The Museum of Mediterranean History will house exhibition spaces, restoration facilities, an archive, an aquarium and library."