ANTI-BLOB

PRADA TRANSFORMER
Prada Transformer is a temporary structure picked up by cranes and rotated to accommodate a variety of cultural
events. The 20-metre high Prada Transformer is located adjacent to the 16th Century Gyeonghui Palace in the centre
of Seoul. The pavilion consists of four basic geometric shapes - a circle, a cross, a hexagon, a rectangle - leaning
together and wrapped in a translucent membrane.
 Accomodate four different events in a single Pavilion.

Motion. Change. Transformity. Multifunction. Transition. Technology.

https://youtu.be/s4wwocrYVX8
https://www.pradagroup.com/en/perspectives/stories/sezione-
progetti-speciali/prada-transformer.html
 Since the collaboration began between the two design houses nearly a decade ago, the OMA
has been responsible for several merchandise epicenters, seasonal set design for Prada’s
Milan showroom, an advertising campaign for Prada Sport, as well as several other projects.
One in particular which caught my attention is the rotating pavilion created for Prada in
Seoul, South Korea, called the Prada Transformer. The design implements multifunction to
the extreme: a four-sided tetrahedron with a different shape on each face, the pavilion may
be rotated according to the function it needs to serve for any event. One face is a circle,
another a rectangle, another a hexagon, and finally a cross.
Although the design seems functional to the utmost degree, I created a cutting to illustrate a
key, yet easily overlooked, factor in the implementation of this rotating pavilion. In order to
rotate the 21 meter high structure, 4 large cranes must attach to the steel skeleton, raise it
off the ground, and rotate it in midair to correspond to its new function. Without these 4
cranes, the rotation of the structure is impossible. But how successful is an architecture
which depends on external elements to be successful? If Transformer’s cranes allow it to
transform, the principle design concept, should OMA have made them an
integrated, designed aspect of their final product? What may have been more interesting is if
OMA had designed the cranes themselves as permanent structures to display the tools which
allow the pavilion to transform itself, rather than hiding them from view.
El Transformer combinaba los cuatros lados de un tetraedro: un
hexágono, una cruz, un rectángulo y un círculo dentro del
mismo pabellón. Esta estructura, cubierta por completo por una
membrana elástica y lisa, se giraba empleando grúas para
reconfigurar completamente la experiencia de los visitantes de
cada nuevo programa. Cada plano lateral fue diseñado
específicamente para organizar la instalación de eventos
diferentes, con lo que se creó una estructura con cuatro
identidades. Cuando una forma se convierte en el plano base,
las otras tres formas se convierten en los muros y el techo que
definen el espacio y sirven como referente de antiguas o futuras
configuraciones para otros eventos.
 Waist Down was the first exhibition held at the Prada
Transformer. An original travelling exhibition dedicated to the
skirt, a garment suggesting infinite imagination and stories that
untangle from the waist down.

 second stage of the transformation cycle, Flesh, Mind the andprogram of Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu
Spirit is the fascinating film festival chosen to give lifedevelops
to a throughout a series of fourteen films screened during a
calendar of events dedicated to cinema. Dynamic and enticing,
two-week period.

The third cycle inaugurated the installation by artist Nathalie

Djurberg. “Turn into Me” included various three-dimensional
constructions in which humorous and provocative video
animations were screened and whose walls were covered by
huge figures: eyes, skeletons and images symbolizing anguish
and fear

The last rotation and configuration of the building entitled “The

Students’ Take Over” consisted in an entire day dedicated to the
exhibition of new artworks focusing on the topic of
transformation curated by the students of ten prestigious Korean
universities.
 PRADA TRANSFORMER
LOCATION Seoul, Korea
CLIENT Prada
YEAR 2007-2009
STATUS Completed
PROGRAM Theatre
PARTNER Rem Koolhass, Elle van Loon

https://arquitecturaviva.com/obras/prada-transformer
 Prada Transformer is an innovative
temporary building inaugurated on
April 2009 in the heart of Seoul and
conceived to host fashion,
cinematographic, art and cultural
exhibitions, screenings and events. A
futuristic tetrahedral construction that
rotates laying its structure on four
different configurations that become its
ground plan: hexagon, cross, rectangle
and circle.
Designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas, for
six months the building has hosted
cultural activities that explored the
multifaceted universe of Prada, for the
first time all in one location.
 THE FOUR CONFIGURATIONS

WAIST DOWN ART EXHIBITION CINEMA SPECIAL EVENT

Instead of doing one Pavilion for one
evento, there is a proposal to actually
accomodate four different events in a
single Pavilion.

The trigger for the architecural concept

https://youtu.be/ASRq2DKdQpI
 Situado en los jardines del Palacio Gyeonghuigung de la capital coreana,
el pabellón Prada Transformer se concibió como una pieza ligera y
adaptable que pudiese acomodar una gran diversidad de eventos de
moda, arte y proyecciones audiovisuales durante el año 2009, y cuya
imagen contrastase con el entorno histórico y tradicional donde se
ubicaba. La forma de la estructura derivaba de un tetraedro teórico que,
al rotar sobre sus caras, facilita una base diferente en función de la
superficie sobre la que apoye el volumen. De este modo, dentro de los
cuatro triángulos equiláteros que componen las caras, se inscribían un
círculo, un rectángulo, un hexágono y una cruz, que daban soporte a
eventos sociales, un cine, eventos de moda y exposiciones artísticas,
respectivamente. El volumen, construido como conjunción de cuatro
estructuras planas de acero con las geometrías citadas, estaba envuelto
por una membrana elástica blanca que filtraba la luz hacia el interior.
Apoyado en cuatro puntos sobre cimentaciones superficiales, el pabellón
podía elevarse y rotar para cambiar de posición con la ayuda de grúas
telescópicas móviles, lo que permitía reconfigurar completamente el
espacio y ofrecer una experiencia diferente a los visitantes de cada
nuevo programa.
https://www.pradagroup.com/en/perspectives/stories/sezione-
progetti-speciali/prada-transformer.html
https://www.prada.com/es/es/pradasphere/events/2009/prada-
transformer.html
https://www.prada.com/content/pradanux/es/es/pradasphere/
events/2009/prada-transformer.html