Rai Lays First Stone for New Multimedia Production Hub in Milan: A Return to Roots and Innovation
Milan, January 27, 2026 – A significant milestone was achieved today in Milan with the laying of the first stone for the new Rai multimedia production center. The project, located in the former Fiera area, represents a 120 million euro investment by Fondazione Fiera Milano and is set to become operational in 2029. Regional President Attilio Fontana emphasized the importance of this development, stating, “This is a very important day that started a long time ago. The establishment of the new Rai in Fiera represents an epoch-making passage, putting Milan and Lombardy back at the center and demonstrating the will to keep Milan and Lombardy as reference points for national productions and territorial information.”
President Fontana further highlighted the crucial role of information in today’s society. “Never before has information been so important,” he added, “because citizens want constant and precise news about what is happening in the territory and the choices of institutions. Where it all began, it starts again here: the technological investments and the efficiency of the facilities that Rai needs are restarting from our territory.” He also praised the collaboration between institutional representatives, including Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, stating that it transcended political differences.
The New Rai Production Center in Detail
The new complex, officially presented during the ceremony, is part of a broader urban regeneration plan for the former Fiera area, spearheaded by Fondazione Fiera Milano to enhance its real estate assets. The project entails the construction of a real estate complex that will be leased to Rai for 27 years, consolidating its activities into a single production hub. The site, situated between Via Colleoni and Via Gattamelata, will span approximately 65,000 square meters.
The inauguration of the construction site was attended by key figures including Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano; Giampaolo Rossi, Rai CEO; and Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan.
The architectural design, by Lombardini22 and constructed by CMB in a joint venture with Gianni Benvenuto Spa, includes an underground level primarily for parking, and a six-level office building covering 15,000 square meters. It will also feature state-of-the-art multifunctional spaces, housing 10 recording studios ranging from 290 to 1,500 square meters. The building is designed to meet LEED Gold and CAM (Minimum Environmental Criteria) standards, ensuring high thermal and acoustic performance and adherence to eco-sustainability principles.
Rai’s Historical Return to Fiera
This ambitious project signifies a return to a historical, professional, and cultural continuity, bringing Rai back to the Fiera grounds and renewing a collaboration that began in the post-World War II era. The Fiera Campionaria of 1947 saw the installation of the first experimental transmission antenna at the Porta Domodossola entrance. By the 1952 Campionaria, the first television broadcasts began, serving as a dress rehearsal for the national radio and television system, which officially commenced regular transmissions on January 3, 1954, from the Corso Sempione studios.
In subsequent years, a Fiera pavilion was permanently leased to complement the Corso Sempione studios, becoming a full-fledged production center with three recording studios. The iconic phrase of the announcers, “live from the Fiera di Milano studios, we transmit…”, became a memorable part of Italian television history.
The urban regeneration efforts funded by Fondazione Fiera Milano, which include this new real estate complex, also encompass the redevelopment of Piazza Gramsci and improved accessibility to Piazza Gino Valle.
Statements from Key Stakeholders
Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano, remarked, “The laying of a first stone is a return to the future. Here, where Rai started, we return to build not just a building, but a cultural and industrial infrastructure. A project that represents the completion of the urban regeneration plan for the former Fiera area, desired by Fondazione Fiera Milano to enhance its real estate assets and put them at the service of the city’s development. A place where content will be produced, but above all identity, inserting the 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.”
Giampaolo Rossi, Rai CEO, emphasized Milan’s historical significance in television. “This symbolic day,” he declared, “reflects the great transformation that Rai is undergoing to face the future with vision and innovative drive. Milan is in the history of Rai and in the history of television, ever since January 3, 1954, the day regular television broadcasts began. The first stone we lay for the new production center carries this historical legacy. In the wake of these extraordinary decades, we look to the future and do so by best interpreting changing needs and ongoing transformations.”
Rossi added that the new Milanese production center is built with the most advanced technological and sustainability criteria, aligned with new working methods to ensure better economic, functional, and environmental efficiency. This operation is consistent with the major objectives of Rai’s new Industrial Plan, which will allow Rai to confirm its centrality among major international broadcasters.
Milan Mayor Beppe Sala underscored the project’s contribution to urban regeneration. “With the laying of the first stone of the Rai production center in Fiera,” he said, “a work begins that Rai itself, Milan, and the country need to respond more effectively to the challenges of contemporaneity, also in terms of multimedia information and entertainment offerings. This is an ambitious project that, thanks to the partnership between Rai and Fondazione Fiera Milano, will allow for a further and important stage in the urban regeneration of the area. With a modern, functional, and sustainable building, Rai returns to its origins, not to regret the past, but to project itself into an increasingly dynamic and challenging future, with adequate spaces and tools.”
Emiliano Cacioppo of CMB and Ambrogio Gianni of Gianni Benvenuto Spa, the winning consortium for the construction, expressed their pride. “The awarding of the tender for the construction of the new Rai Production Center in Milan represents a result of great importance and a source of deep pride. This is a strategic, complex, and highly qualifying project that combines industrial dimension, technological innovation, and attention to environmental sustainability. We will make all our experience in managing ‘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.”
The new Rai multimedia production center is poised to be a cornerstone of Milan’s cultural and technological landscape, reflecting a commitment to innovation while honoring its rich historical legacy in Italian broadcasting.
Source: https://www.lombardianotizie.online/nuovo-centro-produzione-rai/
