Prada’s Transformer@Arch

Two gigantic cranes, stretching their long necks over historic Korean pavilions, are destined to give the final flourish this week to Prada's Transformer, a shape-shifting temporary structure in Seoul. The Transformer is set to alter its perspective, just as the architect Rem Koolhaas envisaged when, in September, he held a tiny model of his inventive tetrahedron between the palms of his hands.

Photo: Nacasa and Partners

Once flipped, the Transformer, which sits beside the 16th-century Gyeonghui Palace in the center of Seoul, changes its appearance and function, the walls of the movie theater of two weeks ago morphing into floors and vice versa.

Photo: Prada

In its upcoming version, the space will showcase something close to the hearts of Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli: contemporary art. The structure opened in April with a fashion exhibition, followed by the movies.

Photo: Prada

Fashion and art have been a dynamic duo, forging cooperation between designers and artists for decades. But the Prada experiments, in their imagination and originality, gallop ahead of the pack. Germano Celant, director of the Fondazione Prada, is the curator of the Seoul art show, an installation by the Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg titled "Turn into Me" that opens on Aug. 15.

Photo: Nacasa and Partners

The South Korean project fits with the active intellect that Ms. Prada brings to her work. Or as she puts it: "I am very egotistic — it is my life and my ideas and I do it because my life is in my brain." The temporary structure, with its white membrane giving it an other-worldly look, is not just a promotional branding tool, designed to enhance the Prada image in South Korea, although Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, gave his blessing to the project, which also attracted local sponsorship from LG Electronics, Hyundai, Red Resource Inc. and the city. Here, Patrizio Bertelli, Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Seoul and Miuccia Prada.

Photo: Prada

The choice of Seoul came for different reasons. Among them, because it is "in the center, not Japan and not China;" because the city is beautiful; and because South Korea is technologically advanced, even though Ms. Prada admits that she herself does not "understand anything techno."

Photo: Prada

Mr. Koolhaas's vision and his OMA think tank provided the concept for the Transformer because, as Ms. Prada says, "architecture is fundamental any time you want to do something." But the content has been Prada's inspiration: the "Waist Down" exhibition of skirts, that had previously toured the world from Tokyo to New York; the "Flesh, Mind and Spirit" movie festival, where Elvis Mitchell, a former film critic for The New York Times, worked with Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Mexican director of the Oscar-winning "Babel."

Photo: Prada

Only one puff of cloud hangs over the Transformer. Now that it has shown off its rotating geometry — from circle to cross to hexagon to rectangle — what will happen to the 180 tons (about 163 metric tons) of steel inside its membrane? "It was meant for Seoul and it will be dismounted in October," said Ms. Prada. "But Bertelli saw it and loved it ... and I believe that one day it will be here, in Milan."

Photo: Prada

@Souce from: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/07/21/fashion/21prada_slideshow_index.html