At the beginning of the 1980s, he moved to Paris, where his two children were born, to work with Gae Aulenti on the project of the Musée d’Orsay,[3] putting the museum at the centre of a wider concept.

This experience continued in 1985, when Rota won the competition for the new rooms of the French School of the Cour Carré at the Louvre, inaugurated in 1992, and more recently, of the Museo del Novecento in Milan (2002–2010).

Rota’s studio in Milan is an integral part of his work, there he gathered objets trouvés, books, and pieces taken from various collections, from Yuri Gagarin’s helmet to masks from Central Africa, mixed up with material samples, drawings, and maquettes.

[5][6] His works include land architecture projects, such as the renovation of the town centre of Nantes (1992–1995) and the Foro Italico promenade in Palermo (2005),[7] and projects for buildings, such as the Boscolo Exedra Hotel in Milan,[8] the Hindu temple of Lord Hanuman,[9] the Ciudades de Agua pavilion for the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza,[10] the Triennale Design Museum in 2007,[11] as well as the above-mentioned Museo del Novecento,[12] inaugurated in December 2010.

Until his death, he was Director of the Design Department at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan and gave a workshop at IUAV on a project entitled Memory Garden.