In the process that sees Milan turning more and more into a world reference metropolis, art is a fundamental component and the Fondazione Prada is the showpiece of progress in this sense. The architectural project, in the area of Piazzale Lodi, was developed by OMA, led by Rem Koolhas, expanding the repertoire of spatial typologies in which art can be displayed and shared with the public. A configuration in which are combined seven existent buildings and three new ones, the result of the transformation of a 1910s distillery, will open to the public on May 9th. The old and the new are confronted in a process of continuous interaction, as well as it happens by definition in the art world. In parallel the Fondazione remain active in Venice, where Fondazione Prada occupies an 18th-century palace in Ca’Corner della Regina. The “Serial Classic” exhibitions in Milan, and “Portable Classic” in Venice, which take off at the same time, combine ideally the two locations of the Foundazione during the summer of 2015. Exhibition projects, whose set up is designed by OMA, analyze respectively the themes of serialism and copy in the classical art and reproduction in small scale of Greco-Roman statuary from the Renaissance to Neoclassicism. In Milan will be unveiled also the educational activities of Accademia dei bambini, a space conceived in collaboration with 18 students of the École nationale supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles. Finally, the gem: Bar Luce, designed by American director Wes Anderson, located in the entrance building of the new venue, recreates the atmosphere of a historic Milanese Cafe. The decoration of the ceiling and walls reproduces in small scale one the symbols of the city, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, while interior decoration, the seats and the floor terrace pay homage to Italian cinema in the 1950s and 1960s.
