The new Fondazione Prada tower Milan

When in Milan for our annual visit to the Salone di Mobile, it’s always good to spare some time for a quick (or long) visit to the always interesting Fondazione Prada. This year we absolutely wanted to check out the brand new tower designed by OMA.  The ‘tower’ pré-opened the 20th of April 2018 with a real über-VIP evening with all star artists like Damien Hirst, Carsten Höller, Francesco Vezzoli, and Luc Tuymans, DJ Ricardo Villalobos, architects India Mahdavi, David Adjaye, Rem Koolhaas and Alejandro Aravena; curators Paola Antonelli and Deyan Sudjic and gallerists Jay Jopling and Nazanin Yashar and off course hosts Miuccia Prada and husband Patrizio Bertelli. Quite impressive, so how cool was this we were in Milan that exact week?

April 21 st 2018

So we went to visit the tower the very FIRST DAY the museum was open. This report is really a first hand view on a brand new star project.

The epic inaugural show “Atlas” was conceived by Miuccia Prada with Germano Celant, the veteran Italian curator, and features works made between 1960 and 2016 by Jeff Koons, Walter De Maria, Mona Hatoumand Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, Michael Heizer and Pino Pascali, William N. Copley and Damien Hirst, John Baldessari and Carsten Höller. The works are presented as either mini solo shows or juxtaposed with other A-listers’ work.

We arrived early, and were welcomed by a bunch of well casted guards, very proud of their new building and happy to show us around. The first thing you notice is the stunning pink elevator that brings you straight to the top floor where Damien Hirst occupies the entire surface. Besides the impressive works, your eye is drown to the fab views over Milan. The idea is to discover floor by floor, by descending the beautiful architectural stairs with surprising details. The team of OMA worked their magic.

And the rest of the works? Imagine enormous rotating mushrooms on the ceiling, tree red American vintage cars pierced by huge inox beams, burned furniture, a Christ life size in black & white and mega size balloon tulips by Jef Koons.

Some more practical info? Torre is the last of three new buildings that Rem Koolhaas’ firm has added to the former distillery compound in Largo Isarco, southern Milan. The white concrete tower contains nine floors, offering 2,000 square metres of extra floor space to the facility. Six of these floors are given over to exhibition galleries, displaying art works and installations by 20th and 21st century Italian and international artists from Prada’s collection. The other three floors house visitor facilities, a restaurant and a 160-square-metre rooftop terrace bar, with panoramic views over the city.

If you need any reason to book a ticket to Milan the coming weeks, this is the one. You will not regret it.

Later! Kate

Fondazione Prada, Largo Isarco, 2  20139 Milano  Free parking space available in Largo Isarco.

Hours: From 20 April 2018: Mon / Wed / Thu, 10 am – 7 pm  Fri / Sat / Sun, 10 am – 9 pm   Closed on Tuesdays

All photos by Kate Stockman, 2018. Courtesy Fondazione Prada.