“The tower is based on the model of the white cube,” Pompignoli explains, “driven by the theoretical premise of maximum spatial abstraction to avoid interfering with the works on display, which are the true protagonists. We have done everything possible to align its existence in a coherent way with the rest of the complex.
The spatial variety, the guiding idea behind the whole project of the Foundation,” Arch. Pompignoli continues, “has been generated by combining three compositional parameters of reference. First: the form of the plan, trapezoidal and irregular on the ground floor (to adapt to the boundary of the property angled on the north side), which overhanging the street in two moments, on the fourth-fifth levels and the eight-ninth levels, becomes rectangular.
Second: the height of the levels which increases by about 50 cm, from the bottom up, until the 8.5 meters of the gallery on the top floor. Finally, the openings of the building, resulting from the structural concept, are always rigorously alternated on the east side (where the loggias are inserted) and the northwest side (where the glazing is flush with the wall).”
Beyond a portico bordered by a transparent fence of cylindrical polycarbonate bars, a large sliding door in anodized aluminium brings visitors into a boulevard-space that has a flexible relation with the tower, the inner routes of the complex, the former warehouse and other subsequent episodes.
The space corresponding to the foyer has been lined with mirrors to expand the game of urban reflections inside.
The main elevator (a volume of 5x3x3 meters that also transports artworks) has been clad in anodized aluminium on the outside, while inside it is partially glazed and partly done in backlit pink onyx.
But at the level of perception, every time the elevator opens to the various levels visitors see new spatial conditions that convey new experiences. In the rise of the tower, the galleries occupy about 2000 square meters of the total 4000. Each of them has two accesses, a main one in front of the panoramic elevator and another leading to the emergency staircase.