The Naomi Milgrom Foundation today unveiled its tenth MPavilion, designed by Pritzker Prize Laureate Tadao Ando. MPavilion 10 represents the inimitable Japanese architect’s first Australian project.
“I wanted to create an experience that will last forever in the hearts of all who visit,” Ando avowed. “I imagined an architecture of emptiness that lets light and breeze enter and breathe life into it. A place that resonates with the environment, becomes one with the garden and blossoms with infinite creativity.”
Ando’s MPavilion 10 reflects his signature use of geometric intervention in nature. His process started with an interpretation of memory of place, something that transcends individual emotion to encompass a social dimension—which is why people across the world are awed and drawn in by his architecture.
“Tadao Ando’s architecture is remarkable because it radically affects the way we perceive the world around us,” furthered Naomi Milgrom AC, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation and commissioner of MPavilion 10. “Like Ando, I am passionate about architecture that promotes public life and social interaction—and I’m thrilled that Australians will be able to directly experience his genius through this incredibly special space for conversation, exchange and contemplation.”
Conceived as a meeting place within Melbourne’s Arts Precinct, Ando’s MPavilion 10 expresses his desire to create a memorable structure in direct response to the landscape. It strives for spatial purity, using circles and squares to conjure a space in harmony with nature.
The design features a large canopy: a 14.4-metre aluminium-clad disc resting on a central column. Offset squares create two entrances that lead to the centre of the structure. Concrete walls of varying lengths partially enclose the space to form a sanctuary reminiscent of a Japanese walled garden—in Ando’s words, “a space to reflect, interact and appreciate that which is contained within, be it nature, art or people.”
A long horizontal opening running the length of both north and south walls serves to frame views of Melbourne’s skyline and parklands, connecting the city and Queen Victoria Gardens to the structure’s interior. Its geometric forms and symmetry are underscored by an internal arrangement that is half-paved and half-reflecting pool, mirroring the canopy, sky, city and surrounds.
“The consistent factor in my work is my interest in light,” Ando added. “For MPavilion, the spatial sequence of circles and squares will create spatial sequences of light and dark. These will change during the day and seasons as the sun moves through the sky. The surfaces the light touches will also change—walls will reveal arresting patterns of shadow, while the water from the reflecting pool may cast dappled patterns on a previously plain surface.”
Esteemed Australian architect Sean Godsell, Principal of Sean Godsell Architects, has been appointed Executive Architect in Australia for MPavilion 10—Godsell was also architect for MPavilion 1 in 2014–15. Led by Tadao Ando, the construction of MPavilion 10 represents a significant global collaboration between Japanese and Australian architects, engineers and builders; Osaka, home to Ando’s office, is Melbourne’s sister city.
MPavilion is Australia’s leading architecture commission: a place for conversation, collaboration and experimentation around the design of today and tomorrow. It celebrates a decade as the country’s cultural laboratory in 2023.
Since 2014, the Naomi Milgrom Foundation has invited extraordinary architects from Australia and across the world to design a meeting place for the Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne’s heart. From this MPavilion, a five-month design festival of free events is launched—prompting locals and visitors alike to consider how architecture, art and design can change lives.
When its season draws to a close, the Naomi Milgrom Foundation gifts each MPavilion to the people of Victoria—relocating it to a permanent home in the community where it can remain as a catalyst for conversation.
In its first decade, MPavilion has become one of Australia’s most anticipated design festivals—attracting over 1,250,000 visitors, with 350,000 in 2022 alone. Accessible and open, MPavilion is both of and for the community: hosting 3,400 events with 4,000 individuals and organisations during this period.
MPavilion’s myriad collaborations are a testament to Melbourne’s status as a local and global centre of design. Its ambitious program is made possible through the visionary support of its partners, principally the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, the City of Melbourne, ANZ and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
MPavilion 10 will open in Melbourne summer 2023. Visit mpavilion.org to learn more.
Architect statement
“The design for the MPavilion began with a desire to find a scene of eternity within the oasis of Melbourne, the Queen Victoria Gardens. Eternal, not in material or structure, but in the memory of a landscape that will continue to live in people’s hearts.
To reflect the lively nature of the site, like a blank canvas, I imagined an architecture of emptiness. Pure geometry outlines the composition of this design. Ancient Egyptians used fundamental geometry to create ordered spaces and structures in the natural world.
Geometry formed the foundation of philosophical study in ancient Greece. It is the expression of human reason and the pursuit of ethereal space. With the circle and square, emptiness is given form.
The emptiness, in its silence, lets the light and wind enter and breathe life into the space.
The emptiness provokes a chance encounter between individuals and engenders dialogues. The emptiness resonates with the environment, becomes one with the garden, and blossoms into a microcosmos of infinite creativity” —Tadao Ando.
