Each year the Naomi Milgrom Foundation commissions a temporary pavilion from a leading international architect to encourage design debate and cultural exchange. From October to February, the MPavilion becomes a design and cultural laboratory, and home to a series of talks, workshops, performances and installations.
MPavilion 2017, was designed by urban visionaries Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten/ OMA. The first completed architectural commission by the firm in Australia, OMA designed a structure that along with providing a space for performances, can also perform itself. Inspired by ancient amphitheaters the pavilion serves as a 'stage, as a tribune, and as a playground blurring the distinction between performer and audience.' MPavilion is shaped by two tiered grandstands‚ one fixed and the other moveable, and covered by a floating roof structure. The rotating grandstand allows for interaction from all angles allowing the pavilion to open to the garden and broader cityscape. The larger static grandstand is excavated from the surrounding landscape and embedded in native plants, rooting the pavilion in its Australian setting. Overhead, a two-meter-deep machine like gridded canopy with a protective translucent roof embeds advanced lighting technology to illuminate the series of public events. With the city as a backdrop, the design provokes discussion on Melbourne and its development. The concept creates a dynamic platform where ideas about architecture, design, and creativity are encouraged and nurtured through interaction with the community; inviting citizens to become more engaged with the urban challenges facing our cities and regions and to connect and engage with their broader community.
MPavilion 2017 welcomed 117,000+ visitors, 475 collaborators, hosted 477 free events over 133 days, and generated 460+ local and international articles. Central was the figuring of MPavilion as an intergenerational space‚ themes included design & architecture, liveable cities, and 'Countryside' inspired by Rem Koolhaas.
Credits:
- Gardener Group - Building surveyors
- Arup - Engineers
- Kane Construction - Principal builder
- Tract - Landscape architects