The collaboration of Koolhaas OMA workshop and its AMO research unit with the Prada fashion house has been going on for almost 10 years (these are the projects of this brand's boutiques in New York and Los Angeles, scenarios of fashion shows and even T-shirt designs). Now we are talking about the transformation of the distillery complex in the southern part of Milan into the headquarters of the Prada Foundation. This industrial ensemble of the early XX century. for several years now it has been used by the foundation to display works of contemporary art belonging to it by such artists as Carsten Höller, Thomas Demand, Tobias Reberger and Barry McGe. Moreover, these works were ordered special for Prada and were created by the authors right on the territory of the former factory: at the same time, the opportunities provided by its vast areas were fully used, and most of the works from the collection of the fund are of a very large size.
However, the factory complex in its “natural” form could not fulfill all the functions of the headquarters necessary for the owners, and therefore the help of OMA was needed.
The project, presented at the next Salone Internazionale del Mobile, involves the reconstruction of the existing five buildings and the construction of three new ones. According to Koolhaas himself, each of them will create an exhibition space with its own special appearance and qualities, which will result in the opportunity to exhibit each type of artwork in the most suitable "environment" for him. The existing buildings will give at least 7.5 thousand square meters. m of area, new - about 10,000 square meters. m.
Of the factory buildings, the most important role will be played by the "large workshop", which will become a hybrid of a storeroom and an exhibition hall. A small building in the courtyard of the complex will be adapted for installations, while four buildings to the north and an abandoned garden will be used for the foundation's administrative premises and exhibition halls for the permanent exhibition. T. n. The "haunted house", a tower-like structure with a variety of rooms and balconies, will be transformed with wallpaper and other interior design tools into galleries with "home furnishings" for specific works. The archives of the Prada fashion house and the Luna Rossa sailing team (sponsored by Prada international regattas) will remain in a separate room. The factory yard will be used for various outdoor activities.
Of the new buildings, the central place in the ensemble will be occupied by the "Tower" with exhibition halls of completely different qualities (high / low ceilings, open / closed, dark / light, neutral / aggressive).
The "box" - in essence, a black box-type hall - has turned in the design process into a kind of MCC for the entire complex, connected with all other zones and buildings.
The Ideal Museum combines the properties of a traditional museum - a series of rooms of different sizes and qualities - with a spacious open room with daylight for exhibitions of major works.
The creation of such a complex and large-scale exhibition ensemble will allow, according to Rem Koolhaas, to avoid the pitfalls of the modern, very narrow and primitive typology of exhibition spaces for contemporary art.
