The art of renovation, photos by Danica Kus

Some years ago Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas raised a critical voice about the architectural heritage culture, suggesting that too much preservation would stall the natural evolution of cities. That was before last year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, when criticism towards historical sites was a typical Koolhaas provocation, which made sense when thinking about his practice and their grand aspirations at the time. However, Koolhaas’ change of heart was already evident at the Biennale.

His latest project for the Prada fashion empire has been all about renovation – and what a renovation it is. A vast gallery created from a historic industrial building for the Prada arts foundation in Milan, it’s a collaboration where the client and architect have thought meticulously about each detail and material: from the tower covered in gold leaf to the way the statues are displayed. Koolhaas had already designed stores for Prada; the arts space marks a culmination in a shared stylistic vision, while looking beyond the ‘white cube’ gallery model.

The art centre offers a story about Prada as a patron and the values of the fashion house, showcasing the cutting edge against the most traditional art forms.  For the inaugural exhibitions on classical sculpture Koolhaas investigated how the artworks change their meaning depending on the way they are exhibited. By hiding the pedestals Koolhaas aims to configure energy and movement that these figures had lost in the traditional display model. Inside the sculpture gallery, surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, artworks from antiquity, and their copies, are shown in a way that enhances their original movement. In the catalogue for the new exhibition Koolhaas explains:

“…each sculpture is extended, groupings can be formed, relationships suggested, sequences implied… The visitors move through the landscape, the fragility of the sculptures is respected by the shaping of the terrain…”

“The sculpture is inevitably a freeze frame of a moment of evident movement – forwards, sideways, or even backwards – but that movement is denied, sabotaged, deflated, aborted, and even contradicted by the pedestal. For many sculptures, the separation from the ground that the socle performs kills the energy of the work and subverts or undermines its meaning.”

Elsewhere the galleries continue through the vast former warehouse building, showing art from the 1970’s onwards, including contemporary stars such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, as well as a series of installations made of cars by Elmgreen & Dragset, Carsten Höller and Sarah Lucas. In these imposing rooms the white, neutral gallery walls are replaced by grey concrete surfaces providing a warmer, more tactile environment for the art.

The cafe by the entrance, designed by American film director Wes Anderson, has an outdoor terrace. It is a great stopover when visiting the large galleries in this former industrial neighbourhood of Milan.

The cafe interior is the antidote to the minimalist bar or restaurant usually found in museums. This cinematic space, decorated with a retro Pradaesque colour palette of cool pastels, is an element of surprise. Within the strong visual storytelling that underpins the fashion brand, there is always space for playfulness. With her husband Patrizio Bertelli, Miuccia Prada continues a trajectory of taste, lending high end fashion culture an intellectual edge. Koolhaas has created a space to house their personal art collection as well as an array of changing exhibitions and activities, which reflect the aesthetic values of understated, elegant luxury of the brand.

www.fondazioneprada.org

M.W.

Striking techno-craft in Kensington Gardens

Spanish architectural studio Selgascano have brought a psychedelic play with colours and materials to the Serpentine Gallery lawns. The new Summer Pavilion, which opened this week, is the fifteenth commission in the history of the pavilions and one of the more controversial designs in recent years. Expectations rise each year and the unusual mix of artisanal and techno can seem confusing, especially here as the most highly finished attention to detail has been the norm.

The rainbow-coloured materials, stretched over the irregular pavilion structure, play with reflections even under grey skies. But it’s inside when the sun hits the surfaces, where the play with light really comes alive. José Selgas, who partners in the Madrid office with his wife Lucia Cano, says colour is just the outcome of their creative process where they try out different materials: “We don’t care about colour, we just play with absolute freedom”.

Cano talks about the engineered plastic ETFE material they used in two layers here: ”We have used it before, but in a very different way. Here we did experiments, we added the colour and the mirror effects.” Their approach is playful and dressed in youthful outfits with matching colour-coded details together they embody the new generation of architects. They explore materials, forms and technological possibilities, pushing the boundaries of how architecture is perceived. And that’s certainly what the pavilion is and should be for.

The couple have been working together since 1998. Selgas says they feel a strong connection to the Spanish architectural heritage, although in the pavilion design they wanted to acknowledge the fourteen works by the previous architects. He explains their contribution is part of a longer process where each architectural design communicates with the others. “It was important to do something different” he says. “We love the artisanal, the handcrafted touch and we didn’t think that it would be possible with this kind of commission, where it would need to be prefabricated. But we have been able to experiment “.

For Selgascano the pavilion is a work in progress, which will be in London until October, then dismantled and moved elsewhere. The sense of fun makes up for some of the flaws, although the architecture establishment might not be entirely convinced. But as José Selgas points out the pavilion concept is in a stage of transition and will evolve and change: “It’s the starting point for the next period”. Maybe in the future there will increasingly be young emerging talent with experimental ideas to further challenge the norms of the architectural community.

Events program runs through the summer until end of October
www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/serpentine-pavilion-2015

HELSINKI: The Tuomas Uusheimo Exhibition
New exhibition by Berlin-based photographer Tuomas Uusheimo http://www.uusheimo.com opened in Helsinki this week. Uusheimo travels extensively on commercial assignments all over the world and has also spent longer periods in one place on artists’ residencies, in Tunisia recently. He trained as an architect first, which shows in the way he observes the built environment. The photographs showcased at the Lasipalatsi Film and Media Centre form a story of observations from different locations across the globe.

There is a meticulousness in the way Uusheimo captures light and architectural forms in his compositions. A great example of this is the image we used for the cover of Grand Tour Helsinki guide: a view with four landmark buildings. Uusheimo is experienced working with the cool Nordic light, but says it can be tricky: “Maybe just the lack of it really. And that is a good thing too” he said, “I shoot a lot in the mornings and at nightfall when the light is scarce, it often creates more interesting atmosphere than direct sunlight and blue skies”.

Uusheimo uses mostly a Canon 5D Mark III, which he says has a great selection of lenses. Even on commercial assignments he prefers natural light and rarely uses additional light equipment. One of the most spectacular, although challenging, moments he has encountered was in Hämeenlinna in Finland a couple of years ago: “It was the darkest time of the year when the sun hardly rises above the horizon, which makes the gloom of twilight last longer. There was fresh snow on the ground from the night before. The temperature was around -25C and the weather was crystal clear with tiny ice snowflakes in the air. The setting was perfect in terms of light.”

The exhibition space is housed in the 1930s Lasipalatsi building, a key example of Nordic modernist architecture, which has been recently restored. The young Viljo Revell was one of the architects behind its iconic form.

http://www.lasipalatsi.fi/info-en
http://www.lasipalatsi.fi/tapahtumat/event/444—souvenirs-matkamuistoja-tuomas-uusheimon-valokuvia

Kokemäki, 2014

Bangkok I, 2012

Brussels I, 2009