Autostrade at the Maxxi, a century of Italian identity

A tribute to travel as a metaphor for life. One hundred years after the construction of the first Italian motorway - the Autostrada dei laghi, inaugurated in 1924 - and 60 years after the birth of the Autostrada del Sole, an exhibition at the Maxxi in Rome recounts a century of travel with 'Italy on the move. Motorways and the future'. Curated by Pippo Ciorra with Angela Parente, in collaboration with Autostrade per l'Italia, the exhibition recounts how motorways have shaped the country's landscape, society and imagination.
"Motorways have accompanied our development. They have been a great accelerator of modernity and have contributed to making the right to mobility effective," wrote President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, in a message sent to the top management of Autostrade per l'Italia, on the occasion of the inauguration. The route is an invitation to rediscover the Italy experienced by millions of travellers throughout the ages. From the Eighteenth/Nineteenth Century Grand Tour, through literature, cinema and television. A celebration of ingenuity, but also a tribute to travel as a bridge between past and future, between distant places and the stories that inhabit them. It is the thread that weaves modernity and memory, connecting places, people and stories. "Motorways are not just infrastructure, but bridges between cities, cultures and people. For us,' explains Emanuela Bruni, director of the Maxxi Foundation, 'it is an extraordinary opportunity to interweave the story of the past with our mission of exploring the contemporary and tracing new paths towards the future'.

Roberto Tomasi, CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia, recalls that motorways have favoured the economic development of territories, 'accompanying social growth and giving freedom of movement to goods and citizens'. The exhibition, he emphasises, 'speaks to us of the grandeur of Italian genius in designing and building great works, high bridges and long tunnels to connect an orographically complex and perhaps unique territory'. Through the history of infrastructures, 'a cross-section of an increasingly digital and sustainable future for mobility emerges,' Tomasi concludes. Elisabetta Oliveri, president of Autostrade per l'Italia, emphasises that 'it is not only a complex infrastructure, but also a work that has made a decisive contribution to the growth of our country'. And he recalls that 'motorways will continue to be indispensable in the future, with a necessary evolution towards sustainability'. Curator Pippo Ciorra emphasises "the evolution from an infrastructure in perpetual growth anxiety to an organism in need of maintenance, improvements, evolved services, energy and environmental awareness, 'intermodality' with other means of transport". And he recalls how Iwan Baan's beautiful images capture the essence of the motorway landscape from above, thanks to a series of helicopter reconnaissance flights.

"Infrastructures are the object of collective mobilisation," says Lorenza Baroncelli, director of the Maxxi Contemporary Architecture and Design, "of an unparalleled effort of ingenuity aimed at conceiving and realising goods and systems that raise the quality of life of an entire society. Just think of the role that the construction of the A1 played in the revival of post-war Italy or imagine the potential for network development made possible by the technological advances we are witnessing today. Great works have been and will be the highest form of democratisation of peoples'. The exhibition, divided into four sections, celebrates the role of the motorway as a protagonist in everyday life and in the collective narrative. There is the process of completing the motorway network illustrated by documents, photographic and moving images, maps, tourist maps, plans and drawings. The travel section is a reflection on the traveller's view of the motorway route and services. Designer architecture also plays a starring role: bridges and railway stations, company headquarters, production campuses designed and built by big names can be found along the motorway route. Technology and environmental awareness will be the main features of the motorways of the future, narrated by the concrete green proposals signed by Renzo Piano's studio.