Pax Romana: Richard Meier triumphs in Rome, creating a new shelter and museum for Ara Pacis.(Ara Pacis museum)(Cover story)

As you stroll down the via di Ripetta from the medieval centre of Rome towards the Piazza del Popolo and the original main gate of the city, the genial succession of Baroque and Neo-Classical masonry facades is interrupted by a simple white rectilinear form that gradually reveals itself to be the concrete portico of an entirely new building. It is the entrance to Richard Meier's Ara Pacis museum--the only major contribution to the fabric of the city within the Aurelian walls for over 60 years.

Naturally, it has been immensely controversial. Many were horrified that a new…