Pritzker prize-winning architect Tadao Ando, Hon. FAIA, will design the 10th MPavilion—an annual five-month architecture commission and design festival located in the historic Queen Victoria Gardens, a parkland in Melbourne’s city center. The Naomi Milgrom Foundation, the Austrailian nonprofitthat commissions architects to produce the pavilion, chose Andao to forge their key mission this year: enliving Australian life and culture through art, architecture, and design projects. MPavillion 10 is set to open on Nov. 16, and will host free public programs including lectures, music performances, and family-friendly workshops based on central themes that will be announced in May.
Courtesy of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation
Naomi Milgrom, Founder of MPavilion
“Each year, MPavilion commissions architects with a unique design language and social purpose and gives them complete freedom to realize their vision,” said Naomi Milgrom, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, in a press release from MPavilion. “I have long admired how Tadao Ando responds to and incorporates the particularity of a place into his design, and his belief that architecture can shape a society. As the MPavilion prepares for the 10th edition, we look forward to sharing Ando’s work in Australia for the very first time and having his MPavilion become a vital site in the cultural and community life of Melbourne.”
Mitsuo Matsuoka
Church of the Light
Ando is known for his contemporary architectural projects that combine geometry and nature along with his confident use of concrete. Some of his famous work includes the Church of the Light (1989; Osaka, Japan), Pulitzer Arts Foundation (2001; St. Louis), Chichu Art Museum (2004; Naoshima, Japan), 21_21 Design Sight (2007; Tokyo), and Bourse de Commerce—Pinault Collection (2020; Paris).
Patrick Tourneboeuf
Bourse de Commerce—Pinault Collection
“The design for the MPavilion began with a desire to find a scene of eternity within the public gardens of the Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne,” Ando said in a release from MPavilion. “Eternal, not in material or structure, but in the memory of a landscape that will continue to live in people’s hearts.”
John Gollings
MPavilion 9, designed by all(zone)
More than 900,000 visitors have participated in the annual MPavilion initiative since its formation in 2014. At the closing of each festival, the Naomi Milgrom Foundation works to relocate the pavilion to a new, permanent home in Australia. MPavilion 9, designed by female-led, Bangkok-based firm All(zone), is currently open to the public through April 6, 2023, and will be relocated at a later date.
Looking for more arts and culture news? See past coverage here.
