Lafayette Anticipations

Lafayette Anticipations is housed in an industrial structure from eighteen ninety-one that originally served as a warehouse for the BHV department store. Before its current life as an art foundation, this building has functioned as a repair shop for straw hats, a dispensary, and even a girls school. Architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm, OMA, were commissioned to transform this U-shaped space while navigating strict heritage preservation rules that protected the historic façade. The result is a unique piece of contemporary architecture that hides behind a traditional nineteenth-century exterior.