MPavilion 2017 Reveals OMA-designed Rotating 'Amphitheatre'

MPavilion 2017, designed by Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of OMA, has opened to the public in Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens.

Initiated and commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation with support from the City of Melbourne, Victorian State Government through Creative Victoria and ANZ, MPavilion 2017 is the fourth annual architect-designed summer pavilion for Melbourne.

Together with hundreds of creative collaborators — both Australian and international — MPavilion presents a free, four-month program of events running from 3 October, 2017 to 4 February, 2018.

Rem Koolhaas, David Gianotten and Naomi MilgromNaomi Milgrom AO, chair of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, commissioned Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten to design MPavilion 2017.

“It is a rare and privileged opportunity to have Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of OMA design MPavilion 2017, and a remarkable coup for MPavilion to be their first major commission in Australia. Rem and David’s profound vision and insight has resulted in an extraordinary pavilion for Melbourne.”

Comprising static and dynamic elements, the 19×19-metre aluminium clad structure allows for multiple configurations that can generate unexpected programming, echoing the ideals of the typology of the traditional amphitheatre.

OMA's Koolhaas and Gianotten said their design for MPavilion 2017 was intended to provoke all kinds of activities through its configurable nature and a materiality that relates to its direct surroundings.

"We are happy that MPavilion can perform as a theatre of debate around the city and its development, and contribute to the ongoing civic discourse of Melbourne."

The MPavilion 2017 program features hundreds of free public events through the popular MTalks, MMeets, MMusic and MKids event series, plus the MProjects installation component. The first week of MPavilion 2017’s program will feature the MTalks event "What it means to live today", presented by London-based architect Jack Self.

The MProjects installation, "Progress: The Game of Leaders" sees Singaporean artist Sam Lo present a playful and interactive allegory that explores — with giant Jenga blocks — what’s put in peril by the unfettered progress of the so-called First World.

MPavilion 2017 is designed as both a temporary summer pavilion and an enduring architectural creation. At the end of each season MPavilion is moved to a permanent new home within Melbourne’s CBD, creating an ongoing legacy in Melbourne’s increasingly sophisticated architectural landscapeMPavilion 2017 was brought to life by Kane Construction, Arup, Gardener Group and landscape architects Tract.