Torre designed by Rem Koolhaas for Fondazione Prada in Milan is finally completed. The 60-meters high Torre is realized in exposed white concrete. The new building further develops the repertoire of different exhibition conditions that together define the architectural vision of the foundation, characterized by a variety of oppositions and fragments.
© Bas Princen. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
Each of the nine floors of Torre offers an original perception of the internal environments thanks to a specific combination of three spatial parameters: plan dimension, clear height and orientation. Half of the levels is in fact developed on a rectangular floor plan, while the other half displays a trapezoid one.
© Bas Princen. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
The clear height of the ceilings increases from bottom to top, varying from 2,7 meters on the first floor to 8 meters on the top level. The external façades are characterized by an alternation of concrete and glass surfaces, which allows exposure from a northern, eastern or western side on the different floors, whereas the top gallery space is exposed to zenithal light.
© Bas Princen. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
The southern side of Torre presents a diagonal structure connecting it to the Deposito, and inside which a panoramic elevator is integrated. As stated by Rem Koolhaas, “Together these variations produce a radical diversity within a simple volume – so that the interaction between the spaces and specific events or works of art offers an endless variety of conditions”.
© Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
Restaurant “Torre”, located on the sixth level of the new building, hosts original furnishing pieces from the “Four Seasons Restaurant” in New York, designed by Philip Johnson in 1958, elements from Carsten Höller’s installation The Double Club (2008-2009), three sculptures by Lucio Fontana – two glazed polychrome ceramics Cappa per caminetto (1949) and Pilastro (1947) and a glass paste mosaic and cement Testa di medusa (1948-54) – as well as a selection of paintings by William N. Copley, Jeff Koons, Goshka Macuga and John Wesley.
© Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
Inspired by the tradition of the Italian restaurant, the walls display artists’ plates especially created for the restaurant by John Baldessari, Thomas Demand, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Elmgreen & Dragset, Joep Van Lieshout, Goshka Macuga, Mariko Mori, Tobias Rebherger, Andreas Slominski, Francesco Vezzoli and John Wesley.
© Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
The rooftop terrace was conceived as a flexible space hosting a bar. It is characterized by a black and white optical floor decoration and by a mirror clad balustrade which creates a reflection effect, capable of visually erasing the barrier between the actual space and the 360° view on the city of Milan.
© Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
Image 1: © Bas Princen. Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
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