The layout of the permanent exhibition 'Italian Lexicon: Stories and Faces of Our Country' was designed by Benedetta Tagliabue (Milan, 1963) and her architectural firm Miralles Tagliabue EMBT, with Nazaret Busto Rodríguez (project leader) and the design team formed by Julia de Ory Mallavia, Daniel Hernán García, and Riccardo Radica.

The exhibition is part of new development plans for the museum complex of the Vittoriano in Rome, the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II that was dedicated in 1911 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Italian Unification. Located in the old Gallerie Sacconi, on the museum's ground floor, the show presents Italy's identity and values through projections, texts, objects, and works. The visitor tours the peninsular through seven sections where – using the classical language of the country's architecture – structures shaped like arches, vaults, and exedras are superposed on the recently restored original spaces, serving as supports for projectors, audio installations, lights, and wiring.