This Orwellian quarter of wide boulevards and linear buildings was built for an international exhibition in 1942, and although war intervened and the exhibition never took place, the name stuck – Esposizione Universale di Roma (Roman Universal Exhibition) or EUR. The area's main interest lies in its rationalist architecture, which finds perfect form in the iconic Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, aka the Square Colosseum, where Italian fashion house Fendi has had its global headquarters since 2015.
The sensational modern building is a masterpiece of rationalist architecture with its symmetrical rows of 216 arches and gleaming white travertine marble. For much of its 72-year history – it was completed in 1943 – it remained unoccupied. Fendi regularly has contemporary-art exhibitions in the ground-floor exhibition space of the building; check what's on when you're in town.
Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas’ cutting-edge Rome Convention Centre La Nuvola (2016) – the largest building to open in Rome in half a century – is the most dramatic piece of contemporary architecture. The striking building comprises a transparent, glass-and-steel box (40m high, 70m wide and 175m long) called Le Theca ('The Shrine'), inside of which hangs organically shaped La Nuvola ('The Cloud') containing an auditorium and conference rooms seating up to 8000 people. A separate black skyscraper called La Lama ('The Blade'), contains a hotel that closed shortly after it opened as the entire complex fell into fiscal trouble. Rumours are it will reopen as a Hilton.
While strolling EUR, watch out for artwork honouring the Fascists, which remains decades after their fall.
