Europe’s largest congress center opens its doors on May 7 in Milano, Italy. The new structure, managed by Fiera Milano Congressi, will accommodate up to 18,000 people and will include a 1,500-seat auditorium, meeting space with 4,500 seats, 64 meeting rooms and 54,000 square meters of exhibition area. On its opening day, the congress center's name and logo will be announced.

The project, designed by architects Mario Bellini for the exterior and Pierluigi Nicolin for the interior, reuses for congress purposes part of the exhibition space (Halls 5 and 6) no longer used by Fiera Milano in the city and integrates them with the already existing Milano Convention Center (MIC), which was already Italy's largest congress center. 

“The decision to triple the size of the MIC is derived from the demands of the market," said Francesco Conci, executive director of Fiera Milano Congressi. "There are international conferences of more than 10,000 delegates taking place, for which we are now—with the new complex—able to compete. And the extension project has immediately been successful, as we already have international events booked in the new center up until 2017, for between 5,000 and 20,000 delegates. In effect, we thought immediately of international congresses with large numbers, but we have also had strong interest from the corporate sector, which likes the design and the high standard of technology available.”