Is Rome the eternal city or stuck in the past?

By Olivia Scarlett

ROME (Reuters) - On the banks of the Tiber river by two baroque churches and Emperor Augustus' 2,000-year-old Mausoleum sits a marble, glass and steel structure -- the first modern building to rise in Rome's historic centre.

But unlike the ancient landmarks around it, the Ara Pacis Museum, designed by U.S. architect Richard Meier and unveiled two years ago, may not last -- at least in its present form.

Rome's new right-wing mayor, Gianni Alemanno, promised upon taking office in April to tear it down, saying it lacked "compatibility" with the heart of the ancient city.

He has since partly backtracked, saying removing the structure is not an immediate priority.

But the Culture Ministry has weighed into the debate, with Undersecretary Francesco Maria Giro proposing to take down one of the building's adjacent walls, and lower another, so that the churches behind it are not obscured.

"It's ugly and excessive ... a slap in the face to Roman citizens. If it was up to me, I'd demolish it completely, but because we haven't got the money, this is not possible," he said, touring the museum at the end of July.

Whether it survives or not, Meier's building has become a symbol of a fierce controversy over how far, if at all, the Eternal City should let contemporary architecture take its place alongside the Colosseum or Michelangelo's dome.

"We are a city enslaved by its past, so hung-up on being the home of art, culture and creativity that it doesn't realize that in reality it is static and hostage to politicians, archaeologists and intellectuals who talk and talk but do nothing," said Roman architect Francesco Coppari.

"INDECENT CESSPIT"

Meier's construction is a reliquary to house the 1st century BC Ara Pacis, a sacrificial altar with marble friezes commissioned by Emperor Augustus and dedicated to peace in what is now France and Spain.

In 1995, when Rome was run by the centre-left, Meier won a contract to build the transparent structure and replace a crumbling building erected under fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

The Ara Pacis Museum was championed by former mayors Francesco Rutelli and Walter Veltroni as part of a series of cultural initiatives to drag Rome into the new millennium.

Yet the award-winning architect, whose works include museums in Los Angeles, Barcelona and Frankfurt, battled more than 10 years to achieve his 16 million euro ($24.9 million) project amid budget squabbles and street protests.

Vittorio Sgarbi, an outspoken art critic, once described Meier's Ara Pacis as "an indecent cesspit", a cross between a petrol station and a pizzeria.

Several people living and working near the museum also call it an eyesore.