Glenn Murcutt MPavilion 2019 design revealed

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation today released the design for MPavilion 2019, the sixth MPavilion in an ongoing series, by Australia’s only Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, Glenn Murcutt AO. The refined, white minimal design reflects Murcutt’s significant contribution to climate-responsive architecture. Celebrating the fiftieth year of Murcutt’s globally influential design practice, MPavilion 2019 will be a milestone summer attraction built in the Queen Victoria Gardens.

MPavilion 2019 relays Murcutt’s longstanding interest in buildings that make efficient use of site and climatic conditions. Prioritising a view of the river and city skyline, the MPavilion consists of a climate responsive rectangular plan with steel frames supporting wing-like trusses covered in tensioned translucent fabric, resulting in a buoyant white roof that will be lit from within at night. The result will be a sleek and adaptable MPavilion, resting on the landscape.

Naomi Milgrom AO, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, which commissions each year’s MPavilion, said: “Glenn’s very thoughtfully considered MPavilion reflects everything the world has come to love and appreciate about his distinctly Australian design practice over fifty years. I’m excited to bring a new Glenn Murcutt design to life for the community to share.”

Commenting on his MPavilion design, Glenn Murcutt AO said: “The MPavilion design is a crisp white building that will be lit at night like a lantern, giving the pavilion a feeling of lightness. For me it was central to establish a sense of ‘place’ for visitors — to view from within the building, the gardens, the river, and the city.”

Influenced by a memory of using a light aircraft’s wing as a temporary shade during a trip to Mexico to visit the Yaxchilán ruins, Murcutt’s MPavilion makes use of a membrane lined curved roof and aileron-like flaps to allow for shade and rain pathways. Open along the north and south elevations, the MPavilion’s south elevation is fitted with retractable fabric blinds to provide a level of wind protection when required. At each end of the MPavilion there are alcoves, membrane lined externally, and timber-slat pivot doors internally.

Murcutt’s design has inspired MPavilion’s program themes for its 2019/20 season of free events and will open in the Queen Victoria Gardens, Southbank Arts Precinct, on 14 November 2019 until 22 March 2020.

Taking on a second life, the MPavilion at the end of each season is then gifted by the Foundation to the public. Becoming a legacy of architect-designed pavilions for the state of Victoria, the series enables design awareness to continue into new communities for years to come.

MPavilion is supported by major partners City of Melbourne, the State Government of Victoria through Creative Victoria and Development Victoria, and ANZ. Bringing the pavilion to fruition, design and construction partners include structural engineers AECOM, specialist tensile roof fabric advisor Temple Architecture, surveyors AAM Group and builders Kane Constructions.

For further information, please visit mpavilion.org