MPavilion2016_ImagecreditJohnGollings
Credit: John Gollings

The 2016 MPavilion, the result of a collaboration between the Naomi Milgrom Foundation and architect Bijoy Jain of Indian practice Studio Mumbai, opens today in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens.

Considered the Melburnian equivalent of London’s annual Serpentine Pavilion with its bold architectural offering and considered cultural agenda, the MPavilion will provide shelter for an extensive and diverse program of free events over four months encompassing over 400 talks, workshops, performances and installations produced in partnership with 300 collaborators and 31 cultural organisations.

The third annual pavilion of its kind was designed by critically-acclaimed architect Jain, whose design is a confluence of traditional craftsmanship and natural materials resulting in a form that marries ancient techniques, lore and oral history with the best of contemporary culture.

MPavilion2016InteriorView_ImagecreditJohnGollings
The design encompasses 7km of bamboo imported from India, 50t of stone, 5000 wooden pins and 26km of rope to create the 18.8m square pavilion – the largest structure of its kind in Australia
Credit: John Gollings

The MPavilion is an annual commission established by Milgrom, a philanthropist, in 2014 that charges an international architect with designing and constructing a temporary pavilion where, from October until February, the structure creates a forum for discussion, performances and a meeting place for new ideas on art, architecture, culture and design. Following that period, the pavilion will then be relocated to a permanent location in Melbourne’s CBD. Last year’s pavilion, designed by AL_A (Amanda Levete Architects) has been reconstructed in Docklands Park.

The 2016 program commences this coming Thursday October 6 with a free public talk hosted by architect Peter Maddison with Milgrom and architect Bijoy Jain, who will be discussing ideas of cultural exchange and the collective construction process. The remainder of the program, which can be found in full here, will riff on the strong connection between India and Australia, and includes collaborations with Indian and local designers including lighting designers bluebottle (who have created a lighting installation synced to soundscapes created by artists Geoff Nees and J David Franzke), fashion label P.A.M, graphic designer Fabio Ongarato Design and a series of three concerts celebrating the 110th anniversary of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

MPavilion will be open to the public from October 5, 2016, until February 18, 2017. Entry and all programmed events are free. You can find out more information here.

Tile and cover image: John Gollings