L'Aquila, Italy 2025
The new exhibition of the MuNDA – National Museum of Abruzzo marks a fundamental step in the museum’s return to its historic home within the sixteenth-century Castle of L’Aquila, following the extensive restoration and structural consolidation carried out after the 2009 earthquake. The project represents a decisive moment in the recovery of one of Italy’s most significant museum institutions, re-establishing the Castle as a place for conservation, research and public engagement, while updating its spaces to meet contemporary museological and conservation standards.
Display Exhibition Designer
Guicciardini & Magni Architetti
Within a monumental and highly complex architectural context, the new layout redefines the museum’s functional and exhibition framework, reorganizing the visitor experience across multiple levels of the Castle. The renewed MuNDA develops along a continuous and coherent sequence of spaces, where archaeological, medieval, modern and contemporary collections are integrated into the historical fabric of the Forte Spagnolo. The exhibition design, curated by Guicciardini & Magni Architetti in collaboration with Goppion, establishes a close relationship between artworks and architecture, allowing the strength and materiality of the building to remain fully legible while supporting a clear and readable narrative.
Goppion contributed to the project through the detailed design development and supply of the exhibition systems, playing a key role in the definition of the museum’s renewed identity. Display cases, mounts and exhibition furnishings were conceived as precise conservation tools, capable of ensuring optimal environmental control, security and long-term preservation of the collections. Particular attention was given to the balance between protection and visibility, allowing each object to be experienced in close dialogue with the surrounding architectural spaces.
The post-earthquake context required highly specific technical responses. Many of the exhibitions elements were developed to meet stringent conservation and safety requirements, including the integration of seismic protection devices for both display cases and supports. These systems were carefully adapted to the constraints of the historic structure, combining advanced engineering solutions with discreet formal language that respects the character of the Castle. The exhibition design thus becomes an active component of the conservation strategy, supporting the safeguarding of the collections while enabling their public display within a seismically sensitive environment.
The renewed MuNDA is conceived not only as a place for exhibition, but as a living cultural environment, where conservation, architecture and visitor experience are closely intertwined. Through a carefully calibrated exhibition system, the museum is able to reconcile the demands of preservation with the need for accessibility and clarity, offering a contemporary museum experience rooted in the memory of the place and shaped by the challenges and responsibilities of post-earthquake reconstruction.