Final OMA-designed Fondazione Prada tower rises in Milan

Masterminded by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’s studio Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Milan’s Fondazione Prada—an arts and culture institute from the Italian fashion house—opened in 2015 with seven renovated distillery buildings including a theater and gallery, a gold-leaf-covered pavilion, mirrored facade, and an ultra ‘grammable cafe designed by Wes Anderson.

This month, this many-surfaced “orgy of architecture” is finally complete with the debut of a white nine-story tower poised to become a new Milanese landmark. The building, named “Torre” (tower in Italian), just opened to the public during this year’s Salone del Mobile.

From certain views, the tower appears as a single rectangular volume. But moving to a new vantage point reveals two geometric voids cut deep into the structure, as well as a sort of sloped steel-and-concrete buttress angling up to meet the back of the building.

“By introducing numerous spatial variables, the complexity of the architectural project contributes to the development of an open and constantly evolving cultural programming,” explained Koolhaas.

Dedicated to housing Prada’s collection of 20th and 21st century artworks, the tower’s nine floors include more than 21,000 square feet of exhibition space—with room to display enormous paintings and large installations.

Photo by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti via Designboom

Photo by Ugo Dalla Porta via Designboom

Via: Designboom