“He transformed two old palazzos into the House of Cinema in the Villa Borghese and the House of Jazz near the Baths of Caracalla. He has been a staunch defender of Richard Meier’s ultramodern Ara Pacis Museum, which came under sharp criticism for being misplaced and ill-conceived after it opened to the public last spring. Then there is the Notte Bianca, an all-night cultural event in which Rome literally opens up its cultural treasures to guests and residents.”