The Prada Foundation art centre, Milan, Italy

Unveiling of Prada Foundation’s new art centre reveals historical blend
The new exhibition space for the Prada Foundation has been unveiled in Milan by AMO, the think-tank of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). The design was commissioned by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli to integrate and transform an early 20th-century industrial site in the Italian city.

The total exhibition space of 17,500 m2 will comprise 7,500 m2 of an existing industrial complex and approximately 10,000 m2 of new buildings. Buildings dating from 1910 belonging to one of Milan’s first manufacturing companies will be restored and integrated in the design. An exhibition building, auditorium and a museum tower will co-habit with seven existing structures including warehouses and laboratories. AMO hope that the design will “represent the evolution of the industrial development of Milan that continues to the present day.”

The space is to hold a collection of the Prada Foundation’s artifacts spanning fifteen years of the Foundation’s activities in its exhibition building. The Prada Foundation was set up in 1993 as a non-profit organization spurred by Prada and Bertelli’s passion for contemporary art.

Partner in charge of the project, Rem Koolhaas, said: “The new Foundation is intended as a collection of artifacts that encounters several architectural typologies. Not only will the range of spatial conditions be extended, but also the range of contents itself: apart from spaces for assembly and performance, both Prada’s and Luna Rossa’s archives will be opened, establishing a continuity of creative and intellectual effort.”

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