Fiera di Bologna
{{Short description|Building in Bologna, Italy}}
File:Bologna Districts San Donato-San Vitale.png
The Fiera di Bologna is the business district of the city of Bologna, in central Italy. The area includes a trade exhibition centre and several office towers occupied by the regional government of Emilia-Romagna and various private companies.
History
=19th century=
The history of the Fiera begins in the 19th century. The first large trade fair was held in the city on May 7, 1888 in the Giardini Margherita, inaugurated by King Umberto I, Queen Margherita of Savoy and the then Prime Minister, Francesco Crispi.{{cite web|title="Chronology of Bologna: 1888" (in Italian)|url=http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1888/2367|website=www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it|publisher=Salaborsa Library|accessdate=30 November 2017|archive-date=4 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904200705/http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1888/2367|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last1=Dondarini|first1=Rolando|title=Storia illustrata di Bologna|date=2007|publisher=Pacini|location=Ospedaletto (Pisa)|isbn=9788877818843}}
=20th century=
Trade fairs of national significance were held more constantly starting from 1927, the year in which the "Littoriale" football stadium, now Renato Dall'Ara Memorial Stadium, was built by the Fascist regime, with expositions taking place inside the stadium on a regular basis.{{cite web|title="Chronology of Bologna: 1927" (in Italian)|url=http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1927/174|website=www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it|publisher=Salaborsa Library|accessdate=30 November 2017}}{{cite book|last1=Quercioli|first1=Giuseppe|title=Bologna e il suo stadio : ottant'anni dal Littoriale al Dall'Ara : la storia di un grande monumento della città|date=2006|publisher=Pendragon|location=Bologna|isbn=978-8883424991}}
After WW2, in 1947, the local chamber of commerce set up the Ente Autonomo delle Fiere di Bologna; however, it didn't have a fixed location yet, but trade fairs were held between Montagnola park and Palazzo del Podestà.{{cite web|title="Chronology of Bologna: 1947" (in Italian)|url=http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1947/386|website=www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it|publisher=Salaborsa Library|accessdate=30 November 2017}}
In 1961 EAF launched a contest in order to select a project for a first block of permanent pavillons.{{cite web|title="Chronology of Bologna: 1927" (in Italian)|url=http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1961/479|website=www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it|publisher=Salaborsa Library|accessdate=30 November 2017}} The winning project was that of architects Leonardo Benevolo, Tommaso Giuralongo and Carlo Melogran;{{cite web|title="I Padiglioni" (in Italian)|url=http://www.bolognafiere.it/pfiera/ipadiglioni|website=www.bolognafiere.it|publisher=Bologna Fiere|accessdate=30 November 2017}} works began in 1964 and the following year the 29th Fair of Bologna, inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Aldo Moro, was the first to be held in a permanent venue.{{cite web|title="Chronology of Bologna: 1927" (in Italian)|url=http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1965/506|website=www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it|publisher=Salaborsa Library|accessdate=30 November 2017}}
At the end of the 1960s the city authorities, worried by massive gentrification and suburbanisation, asked Japanese starchitect Kenzo Tange to sketch a master plan for a new town north of Bologna; however, the project that came out in 1970 was evaluated as way too much ambitious and expensive.{{cite book|last1=Heath|display-authors=etal|first1=Tim|title=Revitalizing historic urban quarters|date=2001|publisher=Architectural Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0750628907|page=[https://archive.org/details/revitalizinghist0000ties/page/107 107]|edition=Reprinted|url=https://archive.org/details/revitalizinghist0000ties/page/107}} Eventually the city council, in spite of vetoing Tange's master plan, decided to keep his project for a new exhibition centre and business district.{{cite book|last1=Ghirardo|first1=Diane Yvonne|title=Italy: Modern Architectures in History|date=2013|publisher=Reaktion|location=London|isbn=978-1861898647|page=283|edition=1. publ.}} At the end of 1978 the construction of a tower block and several diverse buildings and structures started.{{cite web|title="Chronology of Bologna: 1927" (in Italian)|url=http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1978/929|website=www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it|publisher=Salaborsa Library|accessdate=30 November 2017|archive-date=24 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924020513/https://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/cronologia/bologna/1978/929|url-status=dead}} In 1985 the headquarters of the regional government of Emilia-Romagna moved in the new district.{{cite web|title="La Regione e la sua storia - le sedi della regione" (in Italian)|url=http://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/storia/sedi|website=www.regione.emilia-romagna.it|publisher=Emilia-Romagna region|accessdate=1 December 2017}}
=21st century=
In 2002 EAF turned into "BolognaFiere Spa", a joint-stock company that is the fulcrum of a regional fair system that includes also Modena and Ferrara, with a combined total of 200,000 square meters of gross hall capacity,{{cite web|title=Ranking of the world's largest exhibition halls in 2017, by gross hall capacity (in square meters)|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/264240/largest-exhibition-halls-in-the-world-by-hall-capacity/|website=www.statista.com|publisher=Statista|accessdate=1 December 2017}} of which 105,000 in Bologna alone.{{cite news|last1=Vesentini|first1=Ilaria|title="Fiera di Bologna, tra un anno il restyling da 60 milioni di euro" (in Italian)|url=http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/impresa-e-territori/2016-09-23/fiera-bologna-un-anno-restyling-60-milioni-euro-093120.shtml?uuid=ADRB8rPB|accessdate=1 December 2017|work=Il Sole 24 Ore|date=23 September 2016}}
In 2010 a new 22 story, 90 meters high tower has been completed.{{cite web|title="Nuova torre per uffici della Regione Emilia-Romagna nel Fiera District di Bologna" (in Italian)|url=http://ambiente.regione.emilia-romagna.it/geologia/cosa-fa-la-regione-2/Opuscolo_TerzaTorre_RGB200dpi.pdf|publisher=Finanziaria Bologna Metropolitana Spa|accessdate=1 December 2017}}
At the end of 2016 BolognaFiere Spa successfully carried out a €20m seasoned equity offering with the aim to expand its exhibition grounds to 140,000 square meters.{{cite news|last1=Visentini|first1=Ilaria|title="BolognaFiere, al via piano industriale e aumento di capitale" (in Italian)|url=http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/impresa-e-territori/2016-12-19/bolognafiere-via-piano-industriale-e-aumento-capitale-105944.shtml?uuid=ADa8IUGC|accessdate=1 December 2017|work=Il Sole 24 Ore|date=19 December 2016}} On October 30, 2017 (after the approval of a new €100m restyling project) demolition works of the old pavillons officially started.{{cite web|title=And so begins the demolition - the start of the BolognaFiere's new hall development!|url=http://www.bolognafiere.it/en/news/archivio/2017/1740|website=www.bolognafiere.it|publisher=BolognaFiere|accessdate=1 December 2017}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|44.5109|N|11.3661|E|source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:IT|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiera District In Bologna, Italy}}