AGO Modena: Unveiling Europe's Boldest Kinetic Origami Roof
2 days ago
4 min read
In Piazza Sant'Agostino, a quiet square in the center of Modena, a new seven-meter triangular structure has just been unveiled. Its steel panels catch the afternoon sun and fold up like a giant piece of origami, hinting that something even bigger is coming. This is a scale model of a kinetic roof designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and kinetic-structure expert Chuck Hoberman. The roof will be the centrepiece of AGO, a cultural complex that aims to become one of Europe's largest.
Origami Roof. Image Courtesy of CRA
For a city with roots going back to the 18th century, this unveiling is more than just another public art event. It offers the first real glimpse of a project that will transform a former hospital into nearly 22,000 square meters of museum, research, and community spaces. With AGO set to open in December 2026, the countdown is underway.
AGO is built on the site of an 18th-century hospital, one of Modena's key historic landmarks, which is now being transformed into spaces for art, technology, and learning. CRA (Carlo Ratti Associati) designed the project together with the late architect Italo Rota, a Golden Lion winner whose vision helped shape the complex. Rather than creating a single building, they planned a district that brings several institutions together under one roof.
Once complete, AGO will house Fondazione AGO, the University Museums, the Museo della Figurina, the Digital Humanities Research Center, and FEM – Future Education Modena. At its heart is a triangular courtyard, shared with the nearby Gallerie Estensi, which will serve as the main gathering spot for the entire complex. This is where the origami roof will be installed.
Origami Roof. Image Courtesy of CRA
Origami Roof. Image Courtesy of CRA
What makes the roof unique is that it can move, something rarely seen in historic buildings. Chuck Hoberman, a Harvard University expert in kinetic architecture, helped design this origami-inspired canopy. It can open or close fully in just a few minutes. Rather than forcing a choice between an open courtyard and a closed space, this roof offers a flexible solution that adapts to the weather, the seasons, or whatever event is taking place below.
The public model, fabricated in Corten and stainless steel by CRA, Hoberman, and Articulated Artworks, shows how the roof operates using three separate moving parts. Solar panels will be added to the folding surface, so the roof will also generate energy and support the complex's sustainability goals. This design treats architecture as something active and adaptable element, ready for exhibitions, performances, and daily use.
Origami Roof. Image Courtesy of CRA
Origami Roof. Image Courtesy of CRA
Origami Roof. Image Courtesy of CRA
CRA calls dynamic reversibility a framework that brings heritage preservation and kinetic design into conversation for the first time. Restoration has long been pulled between two rival philosophies: Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's belief in returning buildings to an idealized original state, and John Ruskin's argument that a building's age and history should be left visibly intact. The 1964 Venice Charter offered a compromise through the principle of reversibility, insisting that any intervention should allow for future change without harming what came before.
Dynamic reversibility takes things further, suggesting that buildings should be designed to keep adapting, not just allow for future changes. When the roof is open, it brings a modern feel to the historic courtyard a modern feel. When closed, the original architecture is on display again. Some of AGO's vaulted halls are also being left unfinished on purpose, so they can be used for future installations and new activities. In this approach, restoration is seen as an ongoing process, not just a single event.
Origami Roof. Image Courtesy of CRA
The scale model in Piazza Sant'Agostino offers a small but real preview of the bigger changes coming soon. It lets people in Modena see what the future roof will look like months before the actual structure is built in their new cultural district.
"Architecture should not be frozen in time. The kinetic roof reflects this idea. It changes with the seasons, the weather, and the people who gather beneath it." - Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and professor at MIT and the Politecnico di Milano.
As AGO's December oAs AGO's December opening gets closer, the idea of architecture that is flexible and full of possibilities, instead of fixed and permanent, is set to shape not just a roof but a whole new chapter for the city.
CRA Team: Carlo Ratti, Andrea Cassi (partner in charge), Francesco Strocchio (project manager), Valentina Grasso (preliminary phases project manager), Alba Leon Alvarez, Lorenzo Anghinoni, Iratxe De Dios, Serena Giardina, Giulia Lodetti, Eugenia Macchia, Nicolette Marzovilla, Giovanni Trogu, Gizem Veral, Jelena Krco, Matteo Zerbi, Gary Di Silvio, Pasquale Millieri, Gianluca Zimbardi
Italo Rota Building Office Team: Italo Rota, Francesca Grassi
Kinetic roof: Hoberman Associates (Chuck Hoberman, Matthew Davis)
Kinetic roof structure: INGEMBP (Corrado Curti)
Restoration: Studio Associato Architetti Francesco Doglioni e Renata Daminato (Francesco Doglioni)
Structural, mechanical and electrical engineering and safety: Politecnica (Luciano Gasparini, Giorgio Poggi, Francesco Micheletti, Ferdinando Sarno, Francesco Frassineti, Claudio Pongolini, Ilaria Mazzi, Claudia Zironi, Giovanni Gamberini, Giuliana Bellei, Francesca Ficarra, Massimo Trento, Tania Costantini, Sergio Boccaletti, Emanuela Gosti)
Landscape: Studio Laura Gatti (Laura Gatti, Marco Peterle)
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati is an international design and innovation practice with studios in Turin, New York, and London. Rooted in Carlo Ratti’s pioneering research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the office operates at the intersection of the natural and the artificial, executing interventions across every scale—from bespoke furniture to macroscopic urban planning.
The studio’s portfolio is defined by a commitment to "senseable" environments. Recent milestones include AquaPraça, a centrepiece for the Italian Pavilion at COP30 in Belém; the Mutti Canteen, a circular earthwork topped with a living roof; and the adaptive reuse of Oscar Niemeyer’s Palazzo Mondadori in Milan. CRA is the only firm to have three projects—the Digital Water Pavilion, the Copenhagen Wheel, and Scribit—recognized in TIME Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year.” Reflecting his influence on the global architectural discourse, Carlo Ratti served as the Director of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
