British architect Amanda Levete of London-based studio AL_A has been selected to design Melbourne's second annual MPavilion. The temporary structure will be used to house talks, workshops, performances and installations in the "downtown oasis" of Queen Victoria Gardens starting this October.
"I’ve visited Australia three times in the past six years and without doubt Melbourne is my favorite city," said Levete, commenting on her commission. "It’s people that make a city creative – and that’s why I love Melbourne. The brief from the Naomi Milgrom Foundation is a great opportunity to design a structure that responds to its climate and landscape. I’m interested in exploiting the temporary nature of the pavilion form to produce a design that speaks in response to the weather."
"Rooting the pavilion in its parkland setting, I am seeking to create the sensation of a forest canopy in the heart of the city that gives shelter to a program of events. We have a long history of working with boat builders and Australia has some of the finest. We’re working with a yacht fabricator to employ the boundary-pushing technology of composite materials to create the canopy," added Levete.
“The 2015 MPavilion will be a very different temporary pavilion for the beautiful Queen Victoria Gardens," commented Naomi Milgrom AO, founder of the MPavilion series. "Our commission and four-month program of free events allows Melbourne to connect with the best local and international architects, and creative minds. Amanda has designed a thought provoking space for the public to enjoy throughout summer."
The 2015 MPavilion will be presented free to the public from October 6 until February 7, 2016 in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens. The inaugural Sean Godsell-designed MPavilion - gifted to the City of Melbourne by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation – will be relocated to a new permanent home in the gardens of the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne’s CBD.
