fondazione prada and OMA open 'torre' exhibition space in milan

‘torre’ — the building which completes fondazione prada — has opened to the public during milan design week 2018. designed by rem koolhaas with chris van duijn and federico pompignoli of OMA, the 60 meter-tall tower is the final part of the campus, which originally opened in 2015. the project completely transformed the site, converting what was once a gin distillery on the southern edge of the city into a bold and diverse complex of challenging exhibition venues.

image by bas princen, courtesy of fondazione prada (also main image)

named ‘torre’, or ‘tower’, the soaring structure rises above fondazione prada, and the neighborhood as a whole. visible from afar, the tower’s irregular geometry follows a structural logic. ‘the tower is built from large-span concrete beams that alternate in orientation from level to level, creating an alternating open/closed pattern on each façade,’ says OMA. ‘these beams are tied to a slender concrete core which contains all the services and circulation.’

image by bas princen, courtesy of fondazione prada

half of the tower’s storeys develop on a trapezoidal basis, while the others follow a rectangular plan. the external façades are characterized by a succession of glass and concrete surfaces, which give the different floors an exposure to light on the north, east, or west side. meanwhile, the uppermost exhibition hall is filled with generous amounts of natural light. the building’s roof terrace is designed as a flexible space that houses a bar.

image by bas princen, courtesy of fondazione prada

inside is an exhibition titled ‘atlas’, which emerged from a dialogue between miuccia prada and italian art historian germano celant. it hosts work from the prada collection displayed in a sequence of different environments, from artists such as jeff koons, damien hirst, john baldessari, and carsten höller. the group of exhibited artworks, realized between 1960 and 2016, represents a possible mapping of the ideas and visions which have guided the creation of the collection and the collaborations with the artists that have contributed to the activities of the foundation throughout the years.

image by bas princen, courtesy of fondazione prada

exhibition view of ‘atlas’, torre — fondazione prada, milano
image by delfino sisto legnani and marco cappelletti, courtesy of fondazione prada

the ‘torre’ restaurant, housed on the sixth floor, houses original furnishings from the ‘four seasons restaurant’ in new york designed by philip johnson in 1958, elements of the installation by carsten höller the double club (2008-2009), three sculptures by lucio fontana — two polychrome ceramics cappa per caminetto (1949) and pilastro (1947) and a glass and cement paste mosaic head of a jellyfish (1948-54) — and a selection of paintings by william n. copley, jeff koons, goshka macuga and john wesley.

exhibition view of ‘atlas’, torre — fondazione prada, milano
image by delfino sisto legnani and marco cappelletti, courtesy of fondazione prada

fondazione prada – opening of torre
image by ugo dalla porta, courtesy of fondazione prada

image by bas princen, courtesy of fondazione prada

image by jacopo milanesi © OMA

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fondazione prada opens 'torre', the final part of its OMA-designed campus designboom

project info:

name: torre – fondazione prada
status: completed
client: fondazione prada
location: milan, italy
site: former distillery at largo isarco no.2, milan, an industrial complex dating from 1910, comprising seven existing structures, including warehouses, laboratories, and brewing silos surrounding a large courtyard
program: total public area: 12,300 sqm; total private area: 6,600 sqm; total built area: 18,900 sqm

OMA team —

partner in charge: rem koolhaas, chris van duijn
project leader: federico pompignoli

schematic design: alexander reichert, sam aitkenhead, doug allard, andrea bertassi, aleksandr bierig, eva dietrich, paul-emmanuel lambert, jonah gamblin, joshua beck, takuya hosokai, stephen hodgson, jan kroman, jedidiah lau, francesco marullo, vincent mcilduff, alexander menke, aoibheann ni mhearain, sophie van noten, jan pawlik, rocio paz chavez, christopher parlato, ippolito pestellini laparelli, dirk peters, andrea sollazzo, michaela tonus, jussi vuori, luca vigliero, mei-lun xue

design development: anna dzierzon, jonah gamblin, ross harrison, hans hammink, matthew jull, taiga koponen, vincent konate, andres mendoza, susanan mondejar, vincent mcilduff, federico pompignoli, sasha smolin, michaela tonus

construction documentation: katarina barunica, marco cimenti, cecilia del pozo rios, anita ernodi, felix fassbinder, peter feldmann, siliang fu, romina grillo, jonah gamblin, clive hennessey, taiga koponen, roy lin, debora mateo, vincent mcilduff, andres mendoza, federico pompignoli, arminas sadzevicius, magdalena stanescu, lingxiao zhang

construction administration: mariacristina agnello, katarina barunica, emilio boiardi, matteo budel, marco cimenti, chris van duijn, anita ernődi, felix fassbinder, peter feldmann, siliang fu, jonah gamblin, andrea giovenzana, romina grillo, clive hennessey, marianna katenko,taiga koponen, nicolas lee, roy lin, débora mateo, vincent mcilduff, andres mendoza, enzo nercolini, pawel panfiluk, caterina pedò, marton pinter, cecilia del pozo, victor pricop, arminas sadzevicius, magdalena stanescu, davide troiani, michele zambetti, lingxiao zhang

collaborators —

local architects: atelier verticale
structural engineer: favero&milan + SCE project
MEP engineer: favero & milan, prisma engineering
fire engineer: GAE engineering