fuksas: EUR new congress centre under construction in rome

‘EUR new congress centre’ by fuksas, rome, italyimage © moreno maggiall images courtesy of fuksas

in rome, italy, the ‘EUR new congress centre’ by italian practice fuksas is well under way. the project began in 1998 and is now dubbed ‘the cloud’ because of the large suspended structure contained by the building’s shell — generating a city within a city. the organically shaped element hosts an auditorium capable of holding 1,850 people and support services such as a conference rooms holding up to 6,500 seats. enclosed by the ‘theca’, a rectilinear exterior  is surfaced with 15,000 square meters of curtain wall supported with steel ribs. the transparency allows the focal centerpiece to be viewed from the outside. an independent building called the ‘blade’ will house a hotel with 441 rooms.

underside of ‘the cloud’image © moreno maggi

the flexible complex will host congresses, exhibitions and events with a capacity of 9,000 seats. sustainable features include photovoltaics on the roof plane to produce electricity while protecting from solar gain to reduce stress upon the air conditioning of the interior.

rectilinear structure of steel ribs contain the organically shaped auditoriumimage © moreno maggi

elisa fuksas has produced ‘the cloud’, part I, a film which depicts the story amidst a backdrop of the ongoing crisis and difficult process while defending the imagination behind the design. a double screening will be presented at the auditorium parco della musica during the rome film festival. showings are scheduled on sunday november 11th, 2012 at 3pm to 6pm and admission is free.

renderingvideo still

interiorvideo still

exteriorvideo still

project info:

object: eur new congress centresite: rome-eur, italy date: 1998-2013client: eur spaproject: massimiliano and doriana fuksasinterior design: fuksas design

engineering: plans: a. i. engineering, turinstructures: studio majowiecki; studio sartisafety: studio sartiacoustics: xu – acoustique, parigi and a.i. engineering, turinarea: 55.000 mqtype: ongoing project

video credits:

directed by: 
elisa fuksas

photography: 
ferran paredes rubio
, david maldi
, michele orlando
, luke ranzato, 
marco ricchello
, michele d’attanasioediting: eleonora caomusic by:
 marco fasolo

organization:
 massimiliano navarra