Fuksas Cloud inauguration set for October 29

(ANSA) - Rome, July 21 - The 'Cloud' convention centre designed by Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas is slated for an October 29 inauguration, following construction completed this June after eight years.
    A contest to name the convention centre is underway, with the chosen moniker to be announced on live television at the inauguration ceremony.
    In three to five years, when the convention centre located in Rome's EUR business district is up and running at full capacity, it's expected to bring in between 300 and 400 million euros annually.
    The structure is made of 20,000 tonnes of steel - almost three times more than the iron used for the Eiffel Tower - and cost about 300 million euros (VAT excluded) to build, said Duccio Astaldi of construction company Condotte. The convention centre can host up to 8,000 people overall, including 6,000 in the plenary room, which sprawls over 9,000 square metres, and 1,762 in the auditorium.
    The forum level houses a 6,000-square-metre multipurpose space under the auditorium, held up by 14,000 square metres of fibreglass - the "cloud" itself.
    The centre boasts 15 elevators, eight of which are panoramic, and there's also a 439-room luxury hotel built right into the structure.
    Roberto Diacetti, president of EUR Spa, which manages properties in the EUR district including the Cloud, said that the congress centre's opening in the district will put it on the same level as other large European capitals in terms of convention tourism.
    The Cloud has already secured its first big conference, beating out Glasgow and Barcelona for the International Bar Association's 2018 annual conference, with over 6,000 delegates expected from around the world.