MPavilion 2015—AL_A
MPavilion 2015—AL_A
MPavilion is an ongoing initiative of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, supported by City of Melbourne, State Government of Victoria, through Creative Victoria and ANZ. Every year the Naomi Milgrom Foundation commissions an outstanding architect to design a temporary pavilion for the Queen Victoria Gardens, in the centre of Melbourne’s Southbank Arts Precinct, which are then gifted to the state of Victoria.
Award-winning British architect Amanda Levete of London-based studio AL_A was commissioned to design the second MPavilion.
Creating the sensation of a forest canopy that gently sways with the wind, MPavilion 2015 employs hi-tech nautical engineering to create a series of three- and five-meter wide petals—made out of ultra-thin translucent composite and carbon fiber. At night MPavilion has a glowing aura and extraordinary sculptural presence. Inside, the space is oriented to provide a backdrop of Melbourne’s skyline to the north or the delicately layered tree line to the east.
“We were delighted that British inventor Oluwaseyi Sosanya and managing director Paul Stoller of Atelier Ten participated in MRelay. The British Council endeavors to support great design and pleased that in its second year MPavilion was designed by Amanda Levete of AL_A—an inspiring British-Australian collaboration.”
British Council director Helen O’Neil
Image by Rory Gardiner
Image by Rory Gardiner
Image by Richard Powers
Image by Rory Gardiner
MPavilion 2014 held 419 free events with 40 talks and public lectures; 52 music performances; 60 design-focused gatherings and public workshops; and 53 educational events focused on contemporary design and architecture.
Image by Richard Powers
Image by Richard Powers
Image by Richard Powers
Image by Richard Powers
Outcomes
76,000
visitors over 126 days.
342
collaborations including cultural institutions, architects, artists, musicians, dancers, choreographers, scientists, and designers including the British Council, Melbourne Festival, Melbourne Music Week Channels Festival and This Public Life: Festival of Landscape Architecture. Partnered with Robin Boyd Foundation, Parlour, the John Truscott Design Foundation, Monash University Art, Design and Architecture, RMIT University, the Victorian College of the Arts and the Student Organised Network for Architecture (SONA).
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International guests including Amanda Levete (London), Martin Roth (London), Ben Evans (London), Gilbert and George (London), Tom Bloxham (Manchester), Dr. Stephanie Rosenthal (London), Xavier LeRoy (Montpellier), Natalie Jeremijenko (NY) and Mami Kataoka (Tokyo).
MPavilion 2015 ran from 6 October 2015 until 7 February 2016 at Queen Victoria Gardens, exploring themes of Architecture of wellness, transformation and experimental design. The program featured 419 free events with 40 talks and public lectures; 52 music performances; 60 design-focused gatherings and public workshops; and 53 educational events focused on contemporary design and architecture.
Highlights: Partnered with the British Council to bring two British designers, Oluwaseyi Sosanya and Paul Stoller to Australia. Collaborated with The University of Melbourne, Monash University, and RMIT to provide students with opportunities to showcase their work to the industry. Other activations included a SONA portfolio workshop with 14 architects from 13 practices.
Awards and Accolades: Shortlisted for World Architecture News Award 2015 and the UK's Institution of Structural Engineers for the Structural Awards 2016. Received High Commendation in the Buildings and Structures Category at the Victorian Engineering Excellence Awards 2016 for Small Spaces. Named 1 of 15 installations that capture the global imagination by Wallpaper*. Named in the Top 10 temporary structures by Designboom.
Second Life: In 2016 the pavilion was gifted by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation to the people of Victoria and relocated to Docklands Park on Collins Street, Melbourne where it continues to be engaged by the community.
25XDesign with London Design Festival and Google Creative Labs
Conceived by London Design Festival director Ben Evans, and developed by Google’s Creative Lab, 25XDesign, is an interactive digital event celebrating design and place. Launching first at MPavilion the project asked architect Amanda Levete to select her 25 Melbourne design inspirations, to be virtually displayed and experienced in 360 degrees.
Wearing the Interior City with Monash University Art, Design and Architecture (MADA)
MADA students presented ‘Wearing the Interior City’, an installation of costume designs inspired by the interior of contemporary Melbourne buildings. The season’s iteration involved 27 students and seven architectural firms including ARM, Bates Smart, March Studios, McBride Charles Ryan, NH Architecture, Woods Bagot and McGlashan & Everist. Internships have been arranged for winning students with ARM and March Studios.
Sunset Ritual collaboration with Matthias Schack-Arnott of Speak Percussion, bluebottle and AL_A
Unfolding nightly throughout MPavilion’s 2015/16 season, Sunset Ritual was a collaboration between Matthias Schack-Arnott of Speak Percussion, architect Amanda Levete and lighting designer Ben Cobham of bluebottle. As the sun set each night, AL_A’s gently swaying MPavilion performed its own evening ritual. Installed where the structure’s roof petals and carbon-fibre poles meet, LEDs created scattered halos of light, synchronised to an immersive sound piece created by Matthias, performed by the building itself. Gloamer, the specially commissioned six-channel work for resonant metallic percussion instruments and sine tones, is based on a detailed analysis of the overtone structures of thirty-two gongs and cymbals, and employs gestural microphone techniques to create shifting patterns in resonance.