Interview Conducted by Marianne Wellershoff

Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas talks to SPIEGEL about the new Fondazione Prada museum he designed in Milan, the danger of turning cities into historical Disneylands and his desire to raze an entire neighborhood of Paris.

The elevation for the Fondazione Prada’s new permanent space in Milan is unveiled.
The elevation for the Fondazione Prada’s new permanent space in Milan is unveiled. - The site will play host to a number of cultural highlights, including a bar designed by The Grand Budapest Hotel director Wes Anderson; a new documentary screening by Roman Polanski; and grand-scale installations by artists Robert Gober and Thomas Demand.

KULTUR SPIEGEL: Mr. Koolhaas, the Fondazione Prada -- a new art museum you designed -- will be opening in Milan in early May. It is located in a converted old distillery and will be dominated by a tower with a gold leaf façade. Is the latter a provocative reference to the fact that a luxury brand is behind the project?

Koolhaas: No, that has nothing to do with it. We wanted to show that a razor-thin coating can completely transform an unremarkable building. Our aim with the Fondazione Prada is to create a spectrum of materials and colors. The gold is one side of the spectrum. It contrasts with the other side, which consists of the rather humdrum gray of the old building and the white concrete of the new tower.

KULTUR SPIEGEL: What did you think when you first saw the roughly 100-year-old factory buildings?

Koolhaas: I found them unspectacular. But these kinds of industrial structures, with their modest architectural language, are very popular as museum buildings around the world. Why is that? Many years ago, when we took part in the competition for the conversion of the Tate Modern in London, we were explicitly told that artists want clear industrial architecture. They don't want spaces that compete with their works. Apparently they don't want any "architecture" at all.

....

Koolhaas: I think the highly industrial surroundings of the Fondazione Prada on the outskirts of Milan are relatively immune to this. Perhaps there will be a few more cafés, but the museum won't radically alter the character of the neighborhood. In principle, though, you're right, that is a risk. For me urbanity is also about diversity -- about rich and poor living side by side. A homogenization process like the one that takes place during gentrification is anti-urban. Nevertheless, there are examples of outstanding buildings that benefit neighborhoods.

KULTUR SPIEGEL: Could you give us one?

Koolhaas: The Centre Pompidou in Paris.

KULTUR SPIEGEL: The limited amount of urban space available in today's cities alone means that not all buildings can be preserved. How can we achieve a working balance between preservation and demolition?

Koolhaas: We are intensively grappling with this question. If we assume a new attitude toward preservation, then we need a new attitude toward demolition. We once made a radical proposal for Paris in a competition: The district beyond the city's La Defense neighborhood is made up of miserable and mediocre architecture because at the time aesthetics weren't taken into consideration in the planning. Instead of expanding Paris, we said they should tear down every building there that was older than 25 years. The beauty of this idea is that you can create something better every 25 years.

KULTUR SPIEGEL: Earlier in this interview, you said that we shouldn't tear down anything that is still usable.