Why should architecture sit still? This provocation is the point of departure for a current exhibition at Romes MAXXI, titled Restless Architecture, curated by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). Restless Architecture delves into post-war visionaries like Cedric Price, Kisho Kurokawa, Hans Hollein, Maurizio Sacripanti, OMA, Archigram, Anish Kapoor, Arata Isozaki, and others who wanted to see buildings get up off the ground and move. Models of canonical works abound, both built and unbuilt.Architectural representation is not equipped to capture motion, DS+R said in an artistic statement. Therefore, DS+Rs exhibition design supplemented conventional architectural models, drawings and photographs with newly commissioned kinetic models, full scale mock-ups, experimental prototypes, and video installations.A scale model of Cedric Prices Fun Palace is on view. (Musacchio, Ianniello & Pasqualini/Courtesy Fondazione MAXXI)The show is organized around several key themes. Projects selected for exhibition represent a hybrid of qualities: They needed to be mobile, adaptive, and operable. These qualities were meant to stand in contrast with the three pillars of architecture Vitruvius presented centuries ago: Firmitas, utilitas, and venustasnamely firmitas, and the virtue of rootedness to the ground plane. A physical model of Fun Palace, Cedric Prices unbuilt dream from 1964, was reconstructed for the show. And so was a sliver of Nakagin Capsule Tower by Kisho Kurokawa. OMAs Prada Transformer from 2009, the Italian Pavilion at EXPO 70 by Maurizio Sacripanti, and The Shed by DS+R were also on view.A section of Nagakin was reconstructed. (Musacchio, Ianniello & Pasqualini/Courtesy Fondazione MAXXI)Other case studies by Jean Nouvel, Gilbert Lzenes, Pierre Soria, and Architecture Studio also manifest at Restless Architecture. Ferdinand Ludwig, Frantiek Libra, Ji Kan, and Vladimr Karfk also have cameos. All of this ephemera engages interestingly with MAXXIs architecture, a quintessential Zaha Hadid project that also ruminates on the idea of frozen movement as a concept. At certain intervals, DS+Rs design plugs into MAXXIs ceiling, namely its linear ceiling beams that hover over the gallery space. DS+R designed purpose-built mobile curtains that weave through the space, containing small video theaters that come and go, interrupting the exhibition to provide an additional layer of reflection on the theme of movement, the architects shared.Restless Architecture will run through March 16, 2025. (Vincenzo Labellarte/Courtesy Fondazione MAXXI)Restless Architecture opened on October 25 and will run through March 16, 2025.The project team at DS+R included Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, David Allin, AN contributor Phillip Denny, Bryce Suite, Daniel Landez, Alex Knezo, Charles Blanchard, and Tom Collins.