Fondazione Prada

One of the most exciting art institutions in Milan is the foundation started in 1995 by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli. The envelope-pushing museum opened in a Rem Koolhaus–designed space in an industrial area south of the city in the spring 2015. The transformed former distillery consists of multiple buildings and houses exhibition spaces, as well as a well-stocked bookstore and the Wes Anderson–designed Bar Luce. The Tower houses nine levels, six of which are home to exhibition spaces, while the remaining three are occupied by the 84-seat Restaurant Torre and a panoramic terrace with a rooftop bar.

The foundation boasts a whopping 120,000 square-feet of exhibition space (as a comparison, New York's Whitney measures 220,000 square-feet). Innovative, cutting-edge, accessible and whimsical, the Fondazione is a personal testament to intellectual curiosity and the deep belief in art as communication. As the designer told The Guardian: "I grew up with the idea that art is for everybody and not a matter of private ownership. I wanted to make culture attractive to the young [so that they would see] that it is necessary to your life."