Zaha Hadid's Latest Is Built Into the Italian Alps

The tribute to mountaineer Reinhold Messner is as beautiful as it is hard to reach.

by Sean Hutchinson
www.mmmcorones.com

Working with London-based starchitect (or famous architect if you’re not into the whole neologism thing) Zaha Hadid, famed mountain climber Reinhold Messner has completed the Messner Mountain Museum Corones, a glass-reinforced cast fiber concrete museum that sits atop the Alpine peak of Mount Kronplatz in South Tyrol, Italy.

Werner Huthmacher

The museum is over 7,400 feet above sea level, but will be accessible to the nearby Krontplatz ski resort and all of its well-heeled carvers. It will also give visitors a panoramic view of the Zillertal Alps and the valley below.

Werner Huthmacher

The museum’s main purpose is to exhibit artifacts and objects to tell the story of how Messner was the first man to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, as well as his ascent of all 14 mountains on Earth that rise over 26,000 feet, which is kind of self-serving if you ask us. But in this market, adventurers need all the help they can get.

Werner Huthmacher

We don’t want to make any predictions just yet, but average yearly attendance will most likely be slim, and the attendees will primarily be people that try way too hard.