The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced it will not build a new pavilion in 2020 and instead, it will reuse the existing six pavilions for an expanded MPavilion program engaging artists, educators and designers.
The most recent pavilion, designed by Glenn Murcutt for the 2019/2020 season has been gifted to the University of Melbourne.
In a statement, the foundation said, “The decision to engage with these MPavilions for the 2020/2021 season has been made as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time where artists and designs have been disadvantaged, displaced, and disconnected due to the pandemic, MPavilion is adapting its operation to be more accessible to more Melburnians while supporting new needs in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.”
The foundation will double the number of artistic commissions to 450 to support the community.
A spokesperson for the foundation told ArchitectureAU, “This idea of architectural re-use is an important message this year. It’s time to invest in our immediate creatives and help them continue to grow.
2017 MPavilion by Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten.
Image: Simon Terrill
“Re-purposing architecture / adaptive re-use will be a big topic for us this year and MPavilion is leading by example. How many buildings in the city now remain empty because everyone is working from home. These are serious considerations now for every city and the results of COVID-19. MPavilion 2020 will consider this new way of life.”
The MPavilion 2020 program will take place across the six locations where previous pavilions have been permanently relocated to: Hellenic Museum (Sean Godsell, 2014), Docklands (Amanda Levete, 2015), Melbourne Zoo (Bijoy Jain, 2016), Monash University (Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten, 2017) and University of Melbourne (Glenn Murcutt, 2019). The foundation is yet to reveal the permanent location of Carme Pinós’s pavilion (2018).
The new commissions will include music, installation, graphic and fashion design. The foundation is calling for expressions of interest from artists and designers to respond to the themes “Re-emerge: A remix,” “IRL: Exploring social space,” “Preservation: Propagating knowledge,” “1+1: Who are we together,” and “Space: Experiments in time.” The foundation will make available up to $5,000 each for selected projects. Expressions of interest close on 5 July.
MPavilion was initiated in 2014 as a four-year program of architectural commissions and is partly funded by the City of Melbourne and Victorian government. It has been extended twice until 2022.
The architect of the 2021 pavilion will be announced in March.
