New RAI Production Center in Milan; project presented and foundation stone laid.
The project, with a total investment of €120 million by Fondazione Fiera, involves the construction of a building complex that will be leased to RAI for its
new offices and production centre
RAI returns to the Fiera area: with the laying of the foundation stone for the new building, which from 2029 will house the new RAI multimedia production centre, the project was officially presented this morning. It is part of the urban regeneration plan for the former Fiera area promoted by Fondazione Fiera Milano to enhance its real estate assets.
In the presence of Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano, Giampaolo Rossi, CEO of RAI, Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, and Attilio Fontana, President of Region Lombardy, the construction site was inaugurated in the area between Via Colleoni and Via Gattamelata, where a new television production centre with a total surface area of approximately 65,000 square metres will be built. Above a shared basement level used mainly for parking, a 15,000-square-metre office building will be built, spread over six floors above ground, with state-of-the-art multi-purpose spaces that will house ten recording studios ranging from 290 to 1,500 square metres.
The project stems from an agreement between Fondazione Fiera Milano and RAI, signed in December 2023, which provides for the lease of the new building complex for a period of 27 years and will allow RAI to concentrate its activities in a single production hub and to have an asset developed according to eco-sustainability criteria. The building, designed by Lombardini22 and built by CMB in RTI with Gianni Benvenuto Spa, will meet LEED Gold and CAM (Minimum Environmental Criteria) standards and will have a structure with high thermal and acoustic performance.
This ambitious project revives historical, professional and cultural continuity, bringing RAI back to the Fairgrounds and renewing a collaboration that began after World War II. The first antenna for experimental broadcasts was installed at the entrance to Porta Domodossola, between the two Orafi buildings, for the 1947 Trade Fair. The first television broadcasts began at the 1952 Trade Fair, which was a real trial run for the first national radio and television system, which began regular broadcasting on 3 January 1954 from the studios in Corso Sempione. In the following years, the studios in Corso Sempione were joined by a permanently rented pavilion at the Fiera, where a real production centre was built, including three recording studios. The announcers' phrase 'live from the studios of the Fiera di Milano, we broadcast...' has become historic.
The urban regeneration works financed by Fondazione Fiera Milano, which include the new building complex project, also provide for the redevelopment of Piazza Gramsci and the improvement of accessibility to Piazza Gino Valle.
"Today is not just the laying of a foundation stone: it is a return to the future. Here, where RAI began, it is now returning to build not only a building, but a cultural and industrial infrastructure," said Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano. "This project represents the completion of the urban regeneration plan for the former trade fair area, commissioned by Fondazione Fiera Milano to enhance its real estate assets and put them at the service of the city's development. It will be a place where content will be produced, but above all identity, placing public service at the heart of an ecosystem that connects people, businesses, ideas and cultures, from which Italy will continue to tell its story to the world."
'A day that symbolises the great transformation that Rai is undergoing to face the future with vision and innovative drive. Milan has been part of Rai's history and the history of television since 3 January 1954, the day regular television broadcasts began,' said Giampaolo Rossi, CEO of Rai. Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano said: The first stone we are laying today for the new Production Centre picks up this historical baton. In the wake of these extraordinary decades, we are now looking to the future and doing so by interpreting the changing needs and changes taking place in the best possible way: the new Milan Production Centre is being built with the most advanced technological and sustainability criteria, in line with new ways of working, to ensure better economic, functional and environmental efficiency. This operation is consistent with the major objectives of our new Business Plan, which will enable Rai to confirm its central role among the major international broadcasters.
‘A wonderful investment that came about after lengthy discussions, which demonstrated the excellent collaboration between Fondazione Fiera and Rai.’ - said Attilio Fontana, President of Region Lombardy. "I believe it is an advantage for the entire public service, which is crucial for our country. In this case, the public service also focuses on Milan with its local service, which is also extremely important for our citizens in order to present policies and everything that happens in the area, and is increasingly appreciated. So it is also an investment in technology, in improving and making facilities more efficient - therefore Rai's desire to always be up to the task."
“Today, with the laying of the foundation stone of the RAI production centre in the Fiera district, we are launching a project that RAI, the city of Milan and the entire country need in order to respond more effectively to the challenges of the modern world, including in terms of multimedia information and entertainment,” commented the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala. This is an ambitious project which - thanks to the partnership between RAI and Fondazione Fiera Milano - will help us take further important steps in the urban regeneration of the area. With a modern, functional and sustainable building, RAI is now returning to its roots, not to regret the past but to project itself into an increasingly dynamic and challenging future with the right spaces and tools.
"Winning the tender for the construction of the new Rai Production Centre in Milan," said Emiliano Cacioppo of CMB and Ambrogio Gianni of Gianni Benvenuto Spa, the RTI that won the tender, "is a major achievement and a source of great pride. This is a strategic, complex and highly qualifying project that combines industrial dimensions, technological innovation and attention to environmental sustainability. We will make all our experience in the management of turnkey projects available to Fondazione Fiera Milano and Rai, ensuring high quality standards, compliance with contractual deadlines and a constructive approach based on collaboration and responsibility."