The Naomi Milgrom Foundation announced Tadao Ando as the winner of the commission to design the MPavilion 10 in Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne. This will be Ando’s first project in Australia, as he will be taking part in the country’s foremost annual architecture commission and design festival. Now in its 10th edition, the MPavilion gives complete freedom to the designers to create their concepts and realize their vision, hoping to encourage new and unique design languages to further develop this vital site in the cultural and community life of Melbourne. Details of Tadao Ando’s design will be revealed in May, and the pavilion is scheduled to open to the public on November 16, 2023.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando is known for his precise and balanced use of geometric forms that manipulate natural light, the integration of buildings in nature, and the assured use of exposed concrete. mong his many notable works are the Church of the Light (1989; Osaka, Japan), Pulitzer Arts Foundation (2001; St. Louis, USA), and Bourse de Commerce—Pinault Collection (2020; Paris, France). With this commission, Ando joins a roster of distinguished architects, including Rem Koolhaas and Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai, who have displayed their designs in the Queen Victoria Gardens.
The MPavilion serves as a cultural laboratory where visitors and the community can come together to experience and engage with leading design figures. The inauguration of the pavilion is part of a five-month festival of free public programs that include talks and lectures, music performances, and kid-friendly workshops. The 2023 themes will be informed by Tadao Ando’s concepts and practice. The program, along with details regarding the themes, will be announced in the months to come.
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
The MPavilion, an annual initiative of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, represents one of the most important annual architecture commissions in Australia. The latest installment, MPavilion 9, was designed by Bangkok-based architecture and design practice all(zone) and is currently open to the public through April 6, 2023. Previous editions have presented designs by Glenn Murcutt in 2019, Carme Pinós in 2018, and OMA's Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten in 2017.
