Glenn Murcutt has unveiled the design of the 2019 MPavilion as part of Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. Known for environmentally responsible designs grounded in an Australian background, Murcutt's new project is his first civic city design. MPavilion 2019 is the sixth in an ongoing series of annual architect-designed summer pavilions for Melbourne.
MPavilion 2019 was officially opened by MPavilion founder Naomi Milgrom AO, architect Glenn Murcutt AO, City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp. Naomi Milgrom AO, chair of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, who commissioned Glenn Murcutt to design MPavilion 2019, said: “Glenn’s fifty-year practice has inspired a new movement in thinking about climate-responsive design. His MPavilion refines the Australian characteristics we’ve all come to love about his buildings, and provokes a conversation about how Australian design can lead a growing international conversation about the future of cities.”
Glenn Murcutt said: “I felt a crisp white building that at night could be lit from within its roof—like a lantern in the Queen Victoria Gardens, giving the pavilion a feeling of lightness—would sit comfortably in the location. Having the pavilion face north, open towards the river, I could work with good climatic conditions. This also means that from within the MPavilion one can view the gardens to the river and the city.”
Prioritizing a view of the Yarra River and the city skyline with weather-effective design elements, the MPavilion consists of a rectangular plan and round steel columns supporting wing-like trusses wrapped in translucent tensile membrane, shaping a buoyant white roof that will be lit from within at night. The result is an adaptable MPavilion resting on the landscape. At the end of each season, MPavilion is gifted to the people of Victoria and moved to a permanent new home to be engaged by the community in perpetuity.
MPavilion was brought to fruition by Glenn Murcutt AO with structural engineers AECOM, specialist tensile roof fabric advisor Temple Architecture, builders Kane Constructions, building surveyors Gardner Group, lighting designers Bluebottle in collaborationwith JSB Lighting, and visual identity by Studio Ongarato. The MPavilion was commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation with support from the City of Melbourne, Victorian State Government through Creative Victoria and Development Victoria, ANZ and RACV.
MPavilion celebrates Australian design and identity with a free four-month season of events from 14 November 2019 to 22 March 2020. The pavilion is free and open to the public.
