“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. Eternal, not in material or structure, but in the memory of a landscape that will continue to live in people’s hearts.” – Tadao Ando
About the M Pavilion
The M Pavilion is the leading architecture commission in Australia. It’s envisioned as a cultural laboratory where community members can get together for social engagement. It is an ongoing initiative of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, supported by the City of Melbourne and the State Government of Victoria.
Every year since 2014, the Naomi Milgrom Foundation commissions an eminent architect to design a pavilion for the Queen Victoria Gardens in the centre of Melbourne‘s Southbank Arts Precinct. Architects with a unique perspective on design and social purpose can transform their intangible notions into physical realities. It follows a season of free programs, cultural events, interventions, lively talks, performances, workshops, installations, and kid-friendly experiences. At the end of the season, the MPavilion is gifted by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation to the people of Victoria, relocating it to a permanent location where people from the community can engage with it.
The current 9th edition of the MPavilion was designed by Bangkok studio All(zone). Topped with a brilliant orange canopy, it was designed to recreate the feeling of being underneath a tree.
About Tadao Ando | MPavilion
A Japanese architect and winner of the Pritzker Prize, Tadao Ando is known for his light and shadow interactions with exposed concrete. His craftsmanship invokes a sense of materiality unique to Japanese culture and a spatial narrative through the cutting edges of modernism. His complex choreographies of light fascinate viewers experiencing the sensitivity of his architectural transitions.
As one of the most prolific architects in Japan, Ando is known for his projects, such as the Church of Light and the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum. In addition, he transformed the former headquarters of the video game company Nintendo into a hotel and redesigned the historic Bourse de Commerce building in Paris.
Tadao Ando’s Reflections on Architecture
Since the beginning of his architectural career, the coexistence and juxtaposition of architecture and landscape have denoted respect for every aspect of the human condition. The individual is understood as an interrelated part of an ever-changing progression, called upon to create authentic values in close connection to the environment. According to Tadao Ando, architecture is not only an exercise in reflecting on its period but also taking the user through a journey of surprise, discovery, and stimulation. He believes it is paramount to understand that architecture should reflect its context. It is necessary to understand the implications of our built environments. A built structure’s logic often conflicts with its surroundings’ sense. The juxtapositioning of the logic of the built space, the surrounding nature, and the location can create a collision capable of devising new worlds.
For instance, in the Modern Art Museum in Texas, the climate of the surroundings is reminiscent of the desert. The architect used deep eaves as a convenient method to evade strong sunshine. The Langen Foundation in North Germany has forests and numerous cloudy days. In response to the climate, the building has a glazed roof to introduce more light; natural ventilation has been introduced between the outer skin and the nested concrete volume to reduce the heat gain due to the increased glazed surface. These are examples wherein careful considerations of aesthetics, functionality, and the natural environment have been considered. It is admirable how the architect responds to and incorporates the distinct aspects of the place into his design. He strongly believes architecture has the potential to shape society.”
Tadao Ando’s Design of the MPavilion
The Japan-based Tadao Ando will be the seventh leading international architect to design the MPavilion in Melbourne. But, as with his predecessors, this is his first project in Australia.
During the 10th edition of the world-famous MPavilion, Tadao Ando’s work will be shared in Australia for the very first time. As a result, his MPavilion will become a vital site in the community life of Melbourne and add to its cultural value as a place.
Naomi Milgrom, the founder of the Milgrom foundation concerned with commissioning the MPavilion, states that Ando was chosen to design the 2023 MPavilion because he “responds to and incorporates the particularity of a place into his design.”
The themes for 2023 will be revealed by Tadao Ando’s concepts and practice in the coming months. The themes and overall program details will be announced in the coming months. His design for the pavilion shall be unveiled in May and will then be open to the public from 16th November onwards.
The design images of Ando’s pavilion have not been revealed as of yet, but the architect has described the design as “eternal.” Memories associated with the pavilion, with its surrounding landscape will forever remain a part of every visitor’s life.
References: MPavilion
Parreno, C. (2017) The glass magazine, The Glass Magazine. Available at: https://www.theglassmagazine.com/tadao-ando-architect-interview/
Cajsa Carlson |15 March 2023 Leave a comment (2023) Tadao Ando chosen to design mpavilion 2023 in Melbourne, Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2023/03/15/tadao-ando-mpavilion-2023-melbourne/
Florian, M.-C. (2023) Tadao Ando selected to design the 10th mpavilion in Melbourne, Australia, ArchDaily. ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/998000/tadao-ando-selected-to-design-the-10th-mpavilion-in-melbourne-australia
About MPavilion. Available at: https://mpavilion.org/about/
Tadao Ando (no date) Architectuul. Available at: https://architectuul.com/architect/tadao-ando
Schielke, T. et al. (2023) ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/tag/tadao-ando
Image Citations
https://www.dezeen.com/2023/03/15/tadao-ando-mpavilion-2023-melbourne/
https://www.swagroup.cn/projects/fort-worth-museum-of-modern-art/
https://www.museeum.com/museum/the-langen-foundation/
