When Romans talk about The Cloud, they are probably not talking about where they save their electronic documents. Instead, they are probably referring to the Roma Convention Center.

The Cloud is one of most controversial recent building projects in the country.  It was designed by the architecture firm Studio Fuksas, which won a 1998 international architectural competition held by the Municipality of Rome for the Convention Center complex. But, work didn’t even get started until 2008. And then it seemed to go on… forever. The project kept running out of money or encountered other problems, it didn’t get done on time, and to this day, there is debate over the cost, an estimated €350 million.

It was finally completed in 2016, in Rome’s EUR area. The complex actually consists of three sections: The Teca (Shrine), the large glass “box” surrounding The Cloud; La Nuvola (Cloud) itself, which houses an auditorium and other spaces; and The Lama (Blade), a giant, shiny black hotel space off to one side.  But you can’t just walk in and enter The Cloud any time you want. Instead, you have to wait for an event. We lucked out during our last stay. The modern art fair, Roma Arte in Nuvola was taking place (it’s an annual event, scheduled for November 21-23, 2025). Getting inside The Cloud for an art show? Definitely a win-win, in our opinion.

 

It was a large art show, so we found plenty items to our liking.  An art gallery from the Spanish Steps neighborhood that we already liked was exhibiting, and I once again lusted after a lovely, tiny painting by the Futuristic artist, Giacomo Balla.  I spotted it instantly — it calls to me every time I see it.  Maybe some day…

The Cloud itself hovers above the exposition space. We took the escalator up to it, where we could see personally just how cool it is inside The Cloud. We enjoyed wandering around and exploring its undulations and three-dimensional curves. We saw tons of people exploring and enjoying the space just as we were.

 

 

 

 

We spent a couple hours enjoying the art show, and exploring  The Cloud.  It was November, so we didn’t have to be there late for the sun to start setting. That’s when The Cloud turned a golden color, just like you see outside an airplane window.

 

And as night came up, The Cloud transitioned to blue.

As we left the art exhibit, I saw a favorite print by Basquiat. It would look great in our apartment (alas, not enough budget):

 

 

The sun had set, The Cloud had turned blue, and it was time to go home. You can see the steps are well illuminated — they look just as impressive in real life.

 

Goodbye for now, La Nuvola! A lovely end to our day in EUR, as we headed home to the Spanish Steps.