Congress Center, EUR District, Rome

Rome's EUR district currently awaits the arrival of Massimiliano Fuksas' highly anticipated Congress Center. The contruction of the building was scheduled to begin in 2004 and to be completed in 2007; however, with the discoverey of some possible Roman ruins and normal complications, the foundation of the building currently sits unfinished in february, 2007. The site is currently surrounded with jersey barriers with attached paneling alternating between Fuksas' "money-shot" rendering and the photography/advertising company working with the project. Also, on the corner of the site sits an enclosed project meeting space with an amazing model fo the future Congress Center. Both the model and the interior space are dramatically lit at night with iridescent lights with indigo and blue hues.

Massimiliano Fuksas, born Roman, runs his firm located in Rome, Italy. His idea for the Congress "came to [him] in a very special moment. I was at the seaside, a group of clouds where being blown quickly across the sky by a strong wind. As [he] looked at the clouds [he] remembered a dream [he] had had, which involved constructing a building that had no crystallized form at all." The building is basically a large, 30 meter-high, translucent container. On each side a square opens on to the immediate area and the city. The first converses with the local area and can be crossed from viale Europa to viale Shakespeare.The second, a space that can be composed freely using moveable structures, is for welcoming conference participants and accompanying them to the various rooms in the center. The simple, squared lines are tributed to 1930s rationalist architecture that describes most of the EUR buildings and the nearby Conference center designed by Adalberto Libera. Inside this shell, a 3,500 square meter steel and teflon cloud, suspended above a surface area of 10.000 square meter, is designed to hold a 2.000 square meter auditorium and various meeting rooms. Large foyers, cafes, restarants, and a gran stairwell will also be incorporated.

Fuksas obtained this project with his winning design from an earlier international design contest for the futer Congress Center