2021 National Commendation for Small Project Architecture

Jury citation

Wittily inventive with next to no capital, this gem of a pavilion inspires the community to think about the repercussions of their actions. Murray Art Museum Albury commissioned the temporary work to provide refuge from the sun while architect Raffaello Rosselli seized the opportunity to explore and advance his fascination with materiality and sustainability. Plastic Palace exquisitely exhibits 20 tonnes of bale-bound waste – equating to the amount typically generated by a regional town in one month – within a skeletal structure sheathed in five kilograms of semitransparent virgin white plastic skin. Deftly spun into a sequence of discovery, it appears from a distance as an iridescent jewel sited on the town square lawn. Closer inspection, however, reveals a slender, stepped, tall, occupiable interior festooned in its entirety with colourful mullock.

Project credits

Architect: Raffaello Rosselli Architect; Project team: Rafaello Rosselli, Callum Coombe, Elsa Dominish.

Plastic Palace by Raffaello Rosselli Architect was built in Albury, New South Wales, on the land of the Wiradjuri people.