Jury citation
Designed for the 2023 Architecture NGV commission, this scheme is just as conceptually rigorous in its decommissioning and circularity of materials as in its built form. In today’s climatic context, the intent and purpose of a temporary pavilion is being questioned. This project provokes visitors, architects and clients to raise their expectations for the construction methodologies and civic duty of future pavilions, and to seek a greater return for the health of the environment and society from temporary projects.
The jury also commended the potential economic generosity of the project, with the proceeds from the sale of its central murrnong plants and seeds going toward educational programs for young Aboriginal women at Worawa Aboriginal College.
Entrant’s description
In considering the 2023 NGV Triennial themes of memory, matter and magic, we ask, “What does Country remember?”
Cloaked in a fine bronze mesh, a simple, triangulated form circumscribes a vast field that gathers the elements of the garden in an encompassing light, creating a kind of sensorium and chamber for the Memory of Country. Upon the floor of the field, a vast circular carpet of murrnong (Microseris walteri), endemic grasses and companion perennials grow.
The murrnong present their own reality, blossom in their own time, and transition to seed. This seasonality is itself an event. The mesh captures the seed on the breeze. A meandering river
of ash and crushed charcoal snakes through the murrnong field, recalling the Birrarung. Entry to the pavilion is preceded by a ceremonial smoking pit.
The structure makes no penetrations into the ground, being configured as a large, ringed “raft” that collects the various elements of the site. The structure is compartmentalized for calibrations of scale, remote prefabrication and ease of removal. The materials are deployed judiciously for heightened experiential impact through minimum means. Upon decommissioning, the materials have a completely salvageable yield.
It is proposed that as the decommissioning phase approaches, the murrnong are harvested by the students at Worawa Aboriginal College and sold, with the proceeds going to the college. This process offers a durational and performative quality to the engagement with the pavilion throughout its life.
