This award winning design for the EUR New Congress Centre in Rome, currently under construction, was designed by Fuksas Architects. It is expected to fulfill a role as a prominent venue which will fill a gap in the meetings market in the region.
The contemporary structure is expected to contribute to the area with respect for the neighboring buildings without any negative impact on the skyline of Rome. The structure is a building within a building, the massive glass and steel shell, ‘the thera’ encloses a flexible complex of facilities capable of hosting the largest of meetings.
The highlight of the design is ‘the cloud’, a 3.500 sqm. structure of steel and teflon, suspended over an area of 10.000 sqm. and containing an auditorium of 2.000 sqm. The inspiration for this ‘floating’ structure came from a day at the seaside when Massimiliano Fuksas observed the shape and movement of clouds in the sky.
The scale and numbers connected to this project are enormous, a facility capable of hosting events for up to 9.000 people in its entirety. Nearby, a 441 room hotel called ‘the blade’ has been built to accommodate the visitors to the centre. Every effort has been made to adhere to sustainability in the constructiono of the project, in addition, heating and air conditioning of the spaces on completion will be reduced due to the photovoltaic panels installed on the roof. An extremely impressive large scale project, rarely seen in Europe during the current economic climate.
