The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has selected Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of OMA for the design of Melbourne’s 2017 MPavilion. The announcement comes after this weekend’s closing of the 2016 MPavilion, designed by Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai, which welcomed more than 94,000 visitors to over 287 free events in its 139 day run. Now in its 4th year, the MPavilion program invites architects who have yet to completed a project in Australia to design and construct their first structure in the country.
“Rem Koolhaas is one of the world’s most provocative and influential architects, commented Naomi Milgrom AO, Chair of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation who commissioned OMA to design MPavilion 2017. “His contribution to the cultural landscape as an urban thinker together with OMA’s multi-disciplinary approach to architecture reflects MPavilion’s desire to inspire debate about the role of design in building equitable and creative cities.”
The 2017 MPavilion will be OMA’s first completed project in Australia, though not its first commission – the firm is set to begin construction on Perth’s New Museum, set to be completed in 2020.
Commenting on their commission for MPavilion 2017, Rem Koolhaas, Founder and David Gianotten, Managing Partner of OMA said: “The Naomi Milgrom Foundation’s MPavilion is now a project of international significance and we look forward to contributing to the architectural legacy it has engendered. We are excited by the brief of designing a cultural heart for the city - a space of public engagement that will spark creativity and discussion, and that will act as a theatre for ideas.
The 2017 MPavilion will be opened to the public on October 3, 2017. A design will be released later this year.
News via Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
