Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/518559
188 CULTURED The Prada Foundation's new home in the southern part of Milan isn't a museum; it's a sprawling and sumptuous city of culture. Located on the 205,000-square-foot site of a former distillery in one of the Italian fashion capital's last authentic industrial neighborhoods, it's an alluring juxtaposition of old and new structures that together provide a stunning 118,000 square feet of exhibition space (including a 10-story tower that will be completed in 2016), a café, a restaurant and bar (both due to open when the tower does), a children's academy, a cinema and a library. This may be Prada's largest and most exciting launch yet, but there isn't a T-bar shoe or crop-leg pantsuit in sight. In fact, the opening of the new Prada Foundation is a move that further underlines the fashion brand's—and more importantly, Miuccia Prada's—serious commitment to modern and contemporary art after the debut of its Venetian outpost in an 18th century palazzo in 2011. "I am delighted that someone like Mrs. Prada—who is so serious about this project and so much involved, is perceived as a powerful woman in the art world," says Astrid Welter, the Foundation's project director. "Not because of her economic power, but because of the strength of her intellect and vision." And indeed, at a packed press conference for the opening, Prada's CEO, Patrizio Bertelli, brushed aside queries about what appears to have been a very generous budget with a curt, "That's not an interesting question." Underscoring the pure and non-commercial intent of the project, he added that there would be no fashion shows held in the lofty, fashion-friendly spaces. "We don't want any contamination between the two worlds," he said. Federico Pompignoli, lead architect on the project, expands on the point. "This isn't simply a repository for Miuccia's collections. Prada wants this to be a real museum that is considered alongside other important cultural institutions in the world." Inside the walled perimeter of the campus, visitors will find seven existing structures that have been restored, plus three new ones that wow with their irreverent but harmonious interaction with the original buildings. One formerly mundane—and now positively beacon-like—four-story structure has even been embellished in 24-karat gold leaf. There are piazzas, streets and courtyards for outdoor film festivals, too—some lined with cobblestones, others with the beautifully textured industrial end-grain timber tiles prevalent in the factory floors of the early 20th century. If the amount and diversity of space available for art and cultural programming appear almost daunting to the observer, Welter brushes this concern aside. "The Fondazione Prada has used big spaces for artists' projects for 20 years. We are not afraid of big spaces," she says with a wave of her hand and a smile. Judging from this initial outing of temporary exhibitions, permanent site- specific installations and collective shows organized by a rotating committee of curators— intriguingly known as the Thought Council—she has reason to be confident. One of the site's arguably most challenging spaces—a building in three cavernous sections that once housed the mammoth tanks needed to produce distillates—is a case in point. Each section contains a single, judiciously placed piece (by Eva Hesse, Damien Hirst and Pino Pascali) chosen for its exploration of the Minimalist geometries of the cube. It's a triumph for both the architecture and the art. Thanks to new glazing added at the top of these rooms, the interiors are bathed in a rarefied and almost ethereal light. An interior glass balcony accommodates visitors who want to view the works from above. "You wouldn't design something like this from scratch," says Pompignoli, referring to the building's rounded edges (designed to accommodate the movement of raw materials around it) and the change in level from one side of the building to another. "First off, because you wouldn't think of it," he adds, "but mostly because it would be crazy. That is the beauty of found buildings." The Foundation's sophisticated and rich Inside the walled perimeter of Prada's brand new arts campus, visitors will find seven existing structures that have been restored, plus three new ones that wow with their irreverent but harmonious interaction with the original buildings.