Fondazione Prada Tower Features Designed Furniture by Maila’s

July 9, 2025  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry   

The Rooftop Terrace of the Fondazione Prada Tower has finally been inaugurated, featuring the innovative LS24‑Lounge System seating specially designed by architect Federico Pompignoli, founder of PMP Architecture. The official opening marks the completion of Fondazione Prada’s Milan headquarters, inaugurated in May 2015—a project to which architect Pompignoli contributed alongside Rem Koolhaas and Chris van Duijn of OMA in 2018.

The outdoor furniture system LS24‑Lounge System takes shape thanks to the execution expertise of Maila’s, which was able to translate the architect Federico Pompignoli’s bold vision into a meticulously crafted artifact. Materials such as carbon fiber, chrome finishes, and pigmented silicone cushions—translucent to allow LED light through—introduce an unprecedented technological language to outdoor furniture. 

The fluid lines of the LS24 and the three large purple discs, designed as footrests, stand out against the black-and-white optical decor of the terrace floor. The parametric shapes and mirrored surfaces create three-dimensional optical effects, amplifying spatial perception. Movements across the terrace are multiplied by reflections produced by the furnishings and the mirrored stainless-steel cladding of the parapet, which visually dissolves the perimeter barrier and opens up the outward view.

The rooftop terrace of Torre, located on the sixth floor of the eponymous Fondazione Prada building, offering a unique 360° perspective of Milan, is conceived as a flexible space able to host events connected to the museum’s activities as well as operate independently as an outdoor club, complete with a bar area and DJ station.

LS24‑LOUNGE SYSTEM FURNITURE

Architect Federico Pompignoli’s design answers the need to provide seating and support points in spaces intended for different types of events. Intrinsically, LS24 addresses two fundamental challenges of architecture and design: the issue of form—and the material used to create it—and the issue of manufacturing speed.

“The impossibility of defining a specific functional program was instead translated into the possibility of generating an element that can be freely positioned within a space, creating various possible configurations when used in multiples, or remaining as a standalone object when used singly,” explains architect Pompignoli.

The development and production of the carbon fiber structures, and their painting were carried out by Maila’s, an innovative company in the architecture, construction, technology, industrial, and manufacturing sectors, leveraging advanced research and the use of innovative materials.

LS24 was designed to generate two simultaneous seating spaces: one exterior to the perimeter and one interior. The exterior presents a stool-like, more informal and temporary seating arrangement, while the interior offers a concave, embracing lounge. Both types are derived from the same curved object, intersected by a disc that, by virtue of its elevated position, creates two levels—and therefore two seating typologies. Hence the project’s designation as a “system.”

CHROME, LUMINOUS, SOLID, SUSTAINABLE

The technique used to realize the LS24 seating is the result of technological integration born from Maila’s experience in structural design, process industrialization, and production of innovative-material artifacts—especially long‑fiber composite materials.

The architectural firm required a balanced-weight artifact allowing for easy movement of the seats according to architectural layout, while ensuring sufficient stability to withstand crowds. This necessitated in-depth material research, leading to the selection of a core made of recycled PET and structural skins in multi‑axial carbon fiber fabrics.

Production used the VPS technique, with CNC milling performed directly on the core mold. Once the architectural shape was obtained, carbon fiber fabrics were applied, followed by sequential finishing cycles to achieve the chrome effect.

To guarantee a high level of comfort, architect Pompignoli chose pigmented, translucent polymer silicone cushions, enabling the silhouette of the piece to be backlit with an LED system.

THE TOWER: THE PROJECT

The Tower, the building marking the completion of Fondazione Prada’s Milan headquarters—originally inaugurated in May 2015—was designed by Rem Koolhaas with Chris van Duijn and Federico Pompignoli of OMA. Standing sixty meters tall and built in exposed white structural concrete, the nine‑storey building enriches Fondazione Prada’s architectural concept, characterized by a variety of environments and spatial conditions.

LS24 – Lounge System

Credits

Client: Prada spa

Designer: PMP architecture – Federico Pompignoli

Producer: Maila’s Innovation Technology Consulting srl (development/production of carbon structures and painting)

Technogel GmbH (cushions)

Place: Fondazione Prada (Torre rooftop terrace), Milan

Photography: Courtesy of Gabriele Croppi and Prada