The museum was established in 1994, a few years after his death, and has been expanding ever since.
The old wash-house was specially restored by architects Peter Chermayeff and Umberto Floris to house the museum, inaugurated in 1995.
[1] The permanent collection consists of sculptural and graphic pieces by Nivola, who played a role in 20th century modernism as an artist who worked closely with architects.
These focus mainly on the relationship between art, architecture, and landscape, with a special interest on artists and movements that were close to Nivola.
His friends included Le Corbusier, Jackson Pollock, Saul Steinberg, Willem de Kooning, Alexander Calder, and many other well-known mid-20th century artists.