MPavilion Announces 2016 architect – Bijoy Jain from India

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation today announced the commission for the third annual MPavilion has been awarded to acclaimed Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. The announcement comes as MPavilion 2015 closed on Sunday 7 February having welcomed more than 76,000 visitors attending 419 free events hosted over four months within the temporary architecture pavilion designed by award-winning British architect Amanda Levete of London-based studio AL_A. 

Naomi Milgrom AO, Chair of Naomi Milgrom Foundation who commissioned Bijoy Jain to design the 2016 MPavilion commented: “Bijoy Jain is one of the world’s most fascinating architects. His approach to design reflects a deep concern for craft, sustainability and community. Studio Mumbai’s work inspires us all to reconsider the way we design and continues MPavilion’s interest in collaboration and global connectedness.”

Mumbai-born Bijoy Jain is the founder of Studio Mumbai. The esteemed architect develops projects through careful consideration of place and practice, drawing on traditional skills, local building techniques and materials and an ingenuity arising from limited resources. Jain has had his work presented at the XII Venice Biennale and Victoria & Albert Museum and recently was awarded the Grande Medaille d’Or from the Academie D’Architecture in Paris (2014). Highly recognized for building architecture that contains the life of its environment, the studio’s commended projects include Copper House II, Palmyra House, Ahmedabad House and Saat Rasta. Jain is currently working on a weaving workshop in India – Ganka Maki Textile Studio; a multi-activity hotel space – Onomichi Community Center in Japan; and a hotel wellness center in France.

Commenting on his commission for the MPavilion 2016, Studio Mumbai founder and principal Bijoy Jain said: “ I’m honoured to be commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation to design the next MPavilion in Melbourne. I want it to be a symbol of the elemental nature of communal structures. Like Naomi, I see MPavilion as a place of engagement: a space to discover the essentials of the world – and of oneself.”

Continuing its strong collaborative approach, MPavilion 2015 worked with more than 342 cultural institutions, architects, artists, musicians, dancers, choreographers, scientists and designers to develop the four-month free cultural program and contributed to numerous festivals and public events. The design of MPavilion 2015 was also developed in collaboration with Australian specialist mouldCAM using hi-tech nautical engineering to create a series of three- and five-metre wide petals –made out of ultra-thin translucent composite and carbon fibre which created the sensation of a glowing forest canopy in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens.

The MPavilion 2015 presented 40 talks and public lectures; 52 music performances; 60 public workshops; and 53 educational events focused on contemporary design and architecture. Events were spread across a number of themes including the architecture of wellness, transformation and experimental design.  In summary:

·       419 free events and 76,000 visitors

·       342 collaborators

·       21 international guests including Amanda Levete, Martin Roth, Ben Evans, Gilbert & George, Tom Bloxham, Dr. Stephanie Rosenthal, Xavier LeRoy, Natalie Jeremijenko and Mami Kataoka

·       Named 1 of 15 installations that capture the global imagination by Wallpaper*

·       Named in the Top 10 temporary structures worldwide by Designboom

Initiated in 2014, MPavilion is a unique architectural commission and design event made possible through the vision of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation–initiated by Australian philanthropist Naomi Milgrom AO–working closely with private, public and corporate partners. MPavilion is a philanthropic success story that has seen government, business and private sectors collaborate to bring an important new creative project to Melbourne, benefiting the state’s design, construction, tourism and hospitality industries.  MPavilion has received the generous support of the Victoria State Government and the City of Melbourne since 2014.

MPavilion 2016 will be presented free to the public from 5 October 2016 until 5 February 2017. For further details please visit www.mpavilion.org.