The identity of Riga is strongly linked to the sharp skyline of the old town.

But there is another vertical element that punctuates the landscape of the urban region of the Latvian capital: the cranes of the port. These wonderful and gigantic iron structures are the icon of the industrious nature of the city. The new building, which is required to redefine the image of the fair complex, turns towards the old town like a periscope, allowing the gaze to rise from the low profile of the Kipsala Island to admire the splendor of the old city.

The building takes on the technical aesthetics of the cranes, becoming the last great steel truss of the port, but also a sort of lighthouse that after sunset signals the threshold between the port and the city.

First target of the new building is redefining the access system to the fair. A large hall with reception and ticket office is placed in the most baricentrical position of the complex.

Second target is the addition of four auditoriums, which can be joined together if necessary into a single large hall. The auditoriums are stacked diagonally one behind the other, up to the maximum heights permitted by the local law, 28 meters. At the top of this rise, a multipurpose room can count on an extraordinary view towards the skyline of the historic center. Seeing and being seen is the prerogative of the new building, but there is no pompous monumentality in it, preferring to appear as a technical tool at the service of the pre-existing organism. The structure is simple and economical: a double Vierendel steel beam covered with a polycarbonate skin.