Bushes
HIGHLIGHTS
Purpose and Values
On June 8th 2018, Prada Group presented its industrial headquarters in Valvigna, Tuscany, at the book launch of “Prada Architecture by Guido Canali” edited by Italo Lupi.
There was a discussion between Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of the Prada Group, architects Guido Canali and Italo Lupi, and Fulvio Irace, a professor at Milan Politecnico, about the quality of the workplaces, the garden factories and sustainability.
Architect Guido Canali explains: “The huge presence of green spaces, enhanced by stretches of water, together with the function of an energy reserve, is an integral part of the factory. Not exhibited as mere decoration, rather it is set as a condition for the wellbeing of the people who work there. A piece of architecture that rejects gratuitous gestures and exhibitionism but rather is faithful to a critical rigour of rationalist origin. In this way, the fascinating secret gardens, the shady trellises of vitis vinifera, the gleaming ponds do not represent architects’ formal self-indulgence, but rather respect for the dignity and health - also psychic - of those who, within those walls and those gardens, must work there. And therefore inevitably also toil”.
During their long-lasting collaboration the Prada Group and the architect, Guido Canali has restored degraded territory and saved the landscape from planned construction.
“With Guido Canali, we developed a ‘common vision’ of how to interpret the factory and its work environment, basing it on three fundamental principles: respect for the workers, a fully synergistic interpretation of the concept of ‘quality without compromises’; and recognition of the importance of details as an expression of efficiency as well as a work culture – not aesthetics as an end in itself”, affirms Patrizio Bertelli, and he adds: “Prada and Guido Canali are precursors of such ethics, cultivating them together over twenty years of collaboration. Both spontaneously introduced these principles at a moment in history in which awareness of these values had not yet been acknowledged as a moral duty. The industrial headquarters in Valvigna, Tuscany, represent an embodiment of these principles. The building is respectful of the place where it belongs; it generates responsible, sustainable efficiency; and attains balance between its architecture and the natural surroundings”.
The industrial headquarter in Valvigna includes the production and the development of the Prada and Miu Miu leather goods collections, the warehouses for raw materials, the historical archives of the leather goods and footwear collections, the offices for general services and industrial administration, an auditorium, systems areas and the Prada Group data processing centre.
Sqm covered area
Sqm total built area
Sqm main building
Sqm office building
Sqm canteen and kitchen
Sqm physical plant
VALVIGNA BY NUMBERS: 4 BUILDINGS
The main building is composed of two floors with a prefabricated reinforced concrete bearing structure at ground level for the warehousing facilities, and a steel bearing structure on the first floor for the production labs, divided according to brand and product family (Prada Woman, Prada Men, small leather goods and Miu Miu);
The physical plant hosts the electrical, heating and water plants, with terracing above for long-stalk vegetation;
The office building has three floors with metal cladding, situated behind the main building. The General Secretariat, an Auditorium and Multimedia and Telepresence Rooms are located on the ground floor;
The canteen is a vast bright area with a glass roof surmounted by a pergola, and is adjacent to the office building.