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Cloud 9 at Rome’s Nuvola

Rome's contemporary architecture includes the Cloud la Nuvola by Massimiliano Fuksas photo Erica Firpo

It’s been ten years since I went to MAXXI to hear architecture Massimiliano Fuksas talk about his dreams of clouds, and just  four years since I wrote about the “coming soon” opening of La Nuvola, Fuksas’s architectonical actualization.  I’ve  been that archi-stalker, visiting the construction in EUR as much as I can to get a glimpse inside the glass box.  For a long time, years, all I could see was what looked like a metal carcass.   And then one day this year, I read La Nuvola unveiled itself a Halloween inauguration.   he congress hall/conference center of a new Rome was [almost but not quite] open for business.

Ten years, I told myself.  What’s a few more months?  And that’s serendipity.  La Nuvola announced public visits, by reservation only,  for four days during the second week of December.  La Nuvola was ready for me.

Rome's contemporary architecture includes the Cloud la Nuvola by Massimiliano Fuksas photo Erica Firpo

We head first to an underground, a rectangle black hole, or Kubrick’s 2010 in horizontal format. This is a monster of a congress hall designed to fit 3000 people, or be divided into smaller components for groups. My inner Spike Jonez wants me to shoot a video here, preferably with Christopher Walken.

Rome's contemporary architecture includes the Cloud la Nuvola by Massimiliano Fuksas photo Erica Firpo
Rome's contemporary architecture includes the Cloud la Nuvola by Massimiliano Fuksas photo Erica Firpo

Up in the The Cloud, ground level.  It’s a diaphanous, amorphic shape, anchored to the floor.  An Ikea paper lantern.  Or a paper-machè Pikachu, waiting for lift off.  It’s gleeful.  I am worried about the sun and heat in the summer months.  How will it feel?  Trapped? Will it wilt like all pretty things on a hot  day?  Will it run away like a naughty Pokemon?

Rome's contemporary architecture includes the Cloud la Nuvola by Massimiliano Fuksas photo Erica Firpo

Inside the Cloud is a crazy, curvy metal skeleton that makes me think about Barbarella and ordering a black polyeurethane dress.  I wish La Nuvola was a performing arts center because I’d really enjoy a long intermezzo tiptapping around on stilettos and with a cocktail in hand.  And then I remember it’s meant for large conferences and key note speakers. I make a mental note to sign up for a conference, any conference.

Rome's contemporary architecture includes the Cloud la Nuvola by Massimiliano Fuksas photo Erica Firpo

Pop of color.  The main conference room.  It’s like being inside a heart. I love the contrast from white to blood red.

Rome's contemporary architecture includes the Cloud la Nuvola by Massimiliano Fuksas photo Erica Firpo

People in glass houses…. The Nuvola is contained in a glass box, that naggingly reminds me of Jennifer Lopez.  I am thinking about The Cell, which means I am really thinking about Damien Hirst.  No one else really like it as much as I did. I want to see people walking up and down the fire stairs.   I want to have someone take hyperlaspe videos of me in a fluoro blue dress running up and down.   I like transparency.

My take? It’s about time this Nuvola opens, and if I were you, I’d take a double look at conferences happening in Rome.

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Erica Firpo

Will travel for art and food. For more than two decades, Erica has been bringing you Italy. As the voice behind Ciao Bella and Ciao Bella podcast, she immerses herself in the stories of contemporary Dolce Vita. She is an ongoing contributor to AFAR, Conde Nast Traveler, Fathom, Forbes, Hotels Above Par, Travel + Leisure, Washington Post and more.

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About Erica Firpo

Erica Firpo is an experienced travel and lifestyle journalist, and podcaster based in Rome. Italian and American, Erica gets to the heart of culture in Ciao Bella and more. She’s authored over a dozen travel books including Fodor’s, Insight Guides and Lonely Planet.

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