Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten reveal OMA's design
October 3, 2017–February 4, 2018
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation today released the MPavilion 2017 design by Netherlands-based architects Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten of OMA. A creator of modern architectural icons, OMA is a prolific international practice of worldwide distinction and influence. Their MPavilion 2017 design sees a temporary structure that, along with providing space for public debate, design workshops, music and arts events, is itself built to perform.
Taking its cues from the ancient amphitheatre, this year’s pavilion blurs the lines between inside and outside—and between audience and performer—in a skillful yet empathetic manipulation of the surrounding landscape in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens. OMA’s pavilion design seeks not only to employ the qualities of the amphitheatre, but to animate them by creating a flexible civic space that can function as a stage, auditorium or even playground.
Naomi Milgrom AO, MPavilion founder, said: “OMA’s exciting design engenders a theatre for ideas with Melbourne as its backdrop. MPavilion 2017 will be extremely different to previous years, with a designated yet flexible stage enabling all kinds of cross-pollinated activity. Working with Rem, David and the OMA team is an extraordinary privilege, and I look forward to seeing them bring MPavilion 2017 to life with their multi-faceted intelligence and vision.”
MPavilion 2017 will comprise a circular amphitheatre embraced by a hill of indigenous plants and covered by a huge floating roof structure shaped by two tiered grandstands: one fixed, the other movable. The rotating grandstand allows interaction from all angles and for the pavilion to open up to the garden and broader cityscape. Overhead, a two-metre-deep gridded, machine-like canopy with a protective translucent roof will provide lighting and technology for the series of free public events. “The simple materiality of the pavilion is related to its direct surroundings, positioning the Queen Victoria Gardens itself—and the city of Melbourne—as a basis for activity and debate within the pavilion,” says Gianotten.
Comprising static and dynamic elements, the pavilion allows for multiple configurations that can generate unexpected programming, echoing the ideals of the typology of the amphitheatre. Construction is due to commence August 2017.
Of the MPavilion 2017 design, Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten add: “MPavilion is a project that hopes to provoke discussion around what architecture can do both globally and in an Australian context. We’re interested in treating this pavilion not just as an architectural object, but as something that injects intensity into a city and contributes to an ever-evolving culture.”
Gianotten will be speaking at the Living Cities Forum 2017, presented by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation on Thursday, July 27. Bringing together leading design thinkers from around the globe, the forum will investigate the definition of "liveability" and consider the factors that determine a healthy and vibrant city.
Call for event proposals – MPavilion 2017 program
Responding to OMA’s design, in a first for MPavilion, the program will open up to design industry professionals and students through a call for proposals to contribute to the free events and activities during the season between October 3, 2017 and February 4, 2018. Architecture and design professionals, students and practitioners are invited to contribute to the MPavilion’s series of events, which range from workshops, talks and debates to performances, presentations, installations and interventions.
The call for proposals is open to anyone working, studying or practicing in the realms of design and the built environment. This includes (but isn’t limited to) the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, fashion, textiles, urban design, urban planning, urban & cultural heritage, design theory & criticism, graphic design, furniture design and industrial design. Australian and international organisations and practitioners are encouraged to apply.
MPavilion’s programming team welcomes proposals that engage with and creatively respond to OMA’s exciting design for MPavilion 2017, and that suit the pavilion both logistically and practically.
Submission deadline: Tuesday, July 11
For more information, submission guidelines and to submit a proposal, visit www.mpavilion.org/call-for-proposals
About MPavilion
MPavilion is Australia’s leading architectural commission and design event conceived and created by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in 2014. Every year one new temporary pavilion, designed by a leading international architect, is erected in Melbourne’s historic Queen Victoria Gardens. From October through February, the MPavilion becomes a design and cultural laboratory, and home to a series of talks, workshops, performances and installations. At the end of each season MPavilion is moved to a permanent new home within Melbourne’s CBD, creating an ongoing legacy in Melbourne’s increasingly sophisticated architectural landscape. Australian architect Sean Godsell designed MPavilion 2014 (now at the Hellenic Museum); and in 2015 MPavilion was designed by British architect Amanda Levete of AL_A (now in Collins Street, Docklands). Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai designed MPavilion 2016 (soon to be relocated to the Melbourne Zoo).
For further information, please visit www.mpavilion.org
Contact: media@mpavilion.org
