David Chipperfield is seeking legal action over “defects” in the construction of his Museo delle Culture (Mudec) in Milan.

The museum held its soft opening on 27 October. On the same day David Chipperfield Architects posted a statement on their website making clear the firm's anger at how the project has been handled.

The company said: “The Milan City Council is opening the doors of the museum despite David Chipperfield Architects having played no part in the artistic supervision of the design of the permanent exhibition and despite the fact that the Milan City Council has not attempted to rectify the defects in the realisation of the museum that David Chipperfield Architects has been calling attention to for the last two years.”

The firm said that legal proceedings are pending between the parties “in order to establish both the existence of and the liability for the defects claimed by David Chipperfield Architects.”

The statement concluded that confidential negotiations are underway through the courts “in order to understand whether a settlement can be reached so as to draw this controversy to a close and finish Mudec in the way the City of Milan deserves.”