“It’s extraordinary what Naomi has achieved with MPavilion. She’s one of the great people in this country for supporting the arts, and more than just art but architecture, with a special understanding of city life. MPavilion is an interesting and assiduous project, and I’m honoured to be commissioned.”
Glenn Murcutt, commented on his commission for MPavilion 2019
“I’m thrilled to be working with Glenn Murcutt. He’s been at the forefront of contemporary architecture for decades with groundbreaking designs that are sensitive to landscape and cross-cultural collaboration.
Quintessentially Australian and ahead of his time, Glenn’s thoughtfulness about people, place making and the environment continues to inspire us all."
Quintessentially Australian and ahead of his time, Glenn’s thoughtfulness about people, place making and the environment continues to inspire us all."
Naomi Milgrom AO, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
Arguably Australia’s most recognised architect, Murcutt is a recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and is internationally respected for his environmentally sensitive, distinctly Australian architecture. Glenn has received the Alvar Aalto Medal, the Australian Institute of Architects and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medals and is highly regarded as a teacher and commentator. His most significant works include the Australian Islamic Centre, Melbourne undertaken in equal collaboration with architect Hakan Elevli, the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre Riversdale Shoalhaven NSW designed equally with architects Wendy Lewin and Reg Lark, the Simpson-Lee House, Mt Wilson NSW, and the Marie Short House, North Coast NSW.
The MPavilion 2018/19 program season was the largest to date, from 9 October 2018 until 17 February 2019. Events were spread across a number of themes inspired by Carme Pinós, including: building resilient communities, inclusivity, women in leadership, landscape and nature, visual languages—fashion and architecture, and design and science.
2014 - 2018 ARCHITECTS
Australian architect Sean Godsell designed the inaugural MPavilion in 2014. The design was inspired by iconic outback sheds and verandas. Godsell’s commission "A simple 12-metre by 12-metre steel structure with glazed roof and fully automated outer skin," opens and closes to echo the way plants respond to the sun.
MPavilion 2015 was designed by British architect Amanda Levete of AL_A. Widely seen as setting the agenda for architecture in the 21st century Levete used materials and technology developed for the aerospace industry to create a graceful “forest canopy” of five and three metre-wide translucent petals supported on slender four metre columns.
MPavilion 2016 was designed by Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai in India. The pavilion draws on traditional skills, local building techniques and limited resources — and is part of an international movement in handmade architecture using bamboo, stone, and rope to create an extraordinary summer pavilion.
The 2017 pavilion is the work of OMA/ Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten. MPavilion 2017 comprises a circular amphitheatre embraced by a hill of indigenous plants and covered by a huge floating roof
structure. It’s 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.
Barcelona-based architect Carme Pinós of Estudio Carme Pinós was the 2018 architect. Inspired by Pinos’ philosophy around inclusivity and universal connection the pavilion intersected horizontal and vertical form, with floating planes connecting the pavilion to the community, as well as the city’s landscape.
