The Culture Wears Prada
It seems that out of nowhere, the Fondazione Prada art center has risen. What used to be an unknown wasteland in southern Milan has just unveiled a new realm created by an encounter of the old and new worlds.
Rem Koolhaans’ architecture firm OMA redesigned seven existing distillery buildings and warehouses adding elements and transforming the old structures into three new buildings (a cinema, a gallery, and a tower, still under construction) to create a complete experience of 19,000 square meters of art.
Shimmer, reflections, rough and raw, one wall flows to another by a dynamic choice of materials. Materials you have never seen before placed next to the old industrial cement, that brings you from the huge installation hall to the cinema that mirrors perfect lines. It feels as if every piece is somehow connected to the sky. Even the sounds of the construction site and their hanging metal pieces in the air seem to be a part of one whole art piece within the contemporary art complex. Genius.
Current Exhibitions:
“Slight Agitation” – an exhibition by Pamela Rosenkranz’s explores physical and biological processes and its effects on art. The focal point of this exhibit is Infection, an instillation that focuses on a neuro-active parasite, which affects 30% of the world’s population. Rosenkranz’s installment incorporates smell, light and temperature to bring your mind and body on a journey of complete immersion in this interactive art. Slight Agitation will be transforming the Cisterna from 9 February – 14 May 2017.
The Fondazione Prada also included the addition of a cafe designed by film director Wes Anderson, named Bar Luce. With the aesthetic style of a typical Milanese bar from the 50s and 60s, Anderson added some details from the city’s iconic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Its vastness and versatility altogether keeps you guessing, just as an ever- changing cosmopolitan city does. And here it stands as overwhelming proof that Milan is definitely one of them.
Fondazione Prada
Largo Isarco 2 (Lodi)
Opening times:
Mon, Wed, Thu: 10 am – 7 pm
Fri, Sat, Sun: 10 am – 9 pm
Closed on Tuesdays
Entrance: 10 Euro
Bar Luce opening times:
Mon, Wed, Thu: 9 am – 9 pm
Fri, Sat, Sun: 9 am – 10 pm
Closed on Tuesdays.
Rivolgo la presente @ all’architetto Koolhaans affinché riveda la porta d’accesso della toiletta x invalidi, sita al piano inferiore by il guardaroba! Questa in questione,non è una porta, bensì un atto di forza e di confronto spietato a chi, già abbastanza limitato nei movimenti, si venga a trovare a “spingerla”. Per comprendere una guerra non è necessario andare sul campo di battaglia e, per meglio capire i limiti e i bisogni che affliggono un “meno-valido(?)” essere umano, mi auguro non si debba attendere che gli architetti, prima di proporre idee, si pongano anche la domanda se la creazione è accessibile a tutti e per tutti. Grazie. R.Caradonna