Just over a year since it was started, the UniCredit Pavilion, UniCredit's new multi-purpose meeting centre in Piazza Gae Aulenti, near the Group's HQ, was inaugurated on 20 July.
Thanks to the distinctively modular configuration of its various areas, this versatile, three-storey building makes an ideal exhibition centre as well as a perfect venue for events, meetings and conferences.
The ground floor plays host to the Auditorium, which can accommodate up to 700 people and be divided into several distinct areas of smaller size.
A spiral staircase joins the Auditorium to the Art Walkway, a flexible display area intended for temporary exhibitions.
The second floor is occupied by the "Mini-Tree" kindergarten for the children of UniCredit employees, which is also open to the local community. And the "Greenhouse", a venue for business events and meetings, is located on the third floor.
The building also features two openable "Wings" measuring 12 metres in length, which are equipped with big-screens facing the park and Piazza Gae Aulenti.
The entire pavilion, which overlooks the Porta Nuova Gardens, was designed with a close eye on environmental sustainability, and built using natural materials and modern construction techniques.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Giuseppe Vita, Chairman of UniCredit, Federico Ghizzoni, Managing Director of UniCredit, Roberto Maroni, Chairman of the Lombardy Regional Council, and Michele De Lucchi, the project's architect. The ceremony was accompanied by another event, called "Nutriamo la Fantasia" ("feeding the imagination"), revolving around the work of artist Dorothée Selz, who created a series of edible sculptures specifically for the Pavilion's inauguration, in conjunction with a number of top exponents of Italian cuisine, coordinated by the chef Carlo Cracco.