This four-storey, 12,000-sq-metre steel, glass and marble behemoth, designed by Ticinese architect Mario Botta, is both imposing and human in scale, with mountain light gently filling a central atrium from a soaring cupola. On either side are the museum's monumental galleries of modern and contemporary art. Among the collections (though not always on display) are some huge 20th-century works, including Warhol's Four Marilyns, several Picassos, and a clutch of others, including Bill Viola, Kara Walker, Arnulf Rainer and Anselm Kiefer.
Italian work is, naturally, also well represented, with excellent pieces from Giacomo Balla, Giorgio Morandi, Giorgio de Chirico, Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni. Temporary exhibitions cast a broad net, from easygoing shows of Monet or Modigliani to cutting-edge contemporary surveys.
