The Sinuous Vision of Architect Zaha Hadid

MAXXI: National Museum of XXI Century Art, Rome, 2009
This contemporary-art center is located in a neighborhood of apartment buildings and military barracks on the edge of the city's historic district. On the outside, a cantilevered concrete box that holds a gallery (and brings to mind the pinnacle of Hadid's Bergisel ski jump) seems to peer down at visitors. The curving wall beneath it creates a countervailing field of motion. As with the BMW plant, lines of movement within and around the building are suggested by the pathways of the surrounding neighborhood. Though the museum appears to be a single structure, it's actually five buildings joined together in a way to permit essential wiggle room during an earthquake.

• 2010 TIME 100
• Thinker: Zaha Hadid