A new convention centre in Rome that has been hailed as one of acclaimed architect Massimiliano Fuksas's most ambitious buildings yet was unveiled to the international media Wednesday, ahead of its long-awaited opening next week. The Italian's latest work resembles a giant, rectangular glass box encasing an interior dominated by a fluid, cloud-like structure that seems to float above the centre's lower levels and houses its auditorium.
Made from steel and clad in cream-coloured fibreglass the centrepiece of the new centre is the size of two giant zeppelin airships. It has been dubbed Fuksas's "nuvola" (cloud in Italian), and its creators hope the innovative design will help turn the new facility into a popular destination on the money-spinning international conference circuit. The project has had a chequered history since Fuksas's won the competition to build the new centre in 2000 with a design based on an idea he had while watching clouds from a beach. Located in the Mussolini-created EUR district of Rome, the project was initially supposed to be privately funded but failed to attract investors.