OMA collaborates with Prada and the Hermitage at the Venice Biennale

Aluminium sponge for the Fondazione Prada facade.© OMA

The exhibition occupies eight rooms and includes a hyper-detailed 1:100 model of the future Fondazione Prada in Milan, a museum complex designed by OMA and due to go under construction soon. The model is intended as a tool to develop the Fondazione's curatorial strategy, featuring works from the Fondazione collection in handmade miniature versions. OMA's development of the unique aluminium "sponge" material for the Fondazione's façade is also on display. Large-scale photographs, drawings and models of OMA's Prada Transformer (completed in Seoul in 2009) are featured together with works from the Fondazione's collection, including Italian minimalist Enrico Castellani, German artist Andreas Slominski, and, in a secret room, Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg,

Model of Prada Transformer, completed in Seoul, 2009. © OMA.

The 18th century Ca' Corner della Regina, overlooking the Grand Canal, is currently undergoing renovation to become a new space for contemporary art, under the auspices of the Fondazione Prada and Fondazione Musei Civici. The project, to be carried out over the next six years, will thoroughly restore the landmark for use as a centre for exhibitions, research and study dedicated to contemporary culture.

Also in Venice, OMA is collaborating with the Hermitage museum, of St. Petersburg, on a major retrospective of the poetry and sculpture of Russian artist Dmitry Prigov (1940–2007), whose work was recently donated by the Prigov family to the Hermitage. The exhibition also opens today, at Ca Foscari University.