In conversation with Carme Pinós, architect of MPavilion 2018
“Architecture constructs society,” Carme Pinós tells me. “For that reason, [architects] have a strong responsibility to society. I love this responsibility,” she notes, with palpable sincerity. The lauded Barcelona-based architect of Estudio Carme Pinós has come to Melbourne for the official opening of MPavilion 2018. The fifth incarnation in an ongoing series of annual architect-designed summer pavilions for Melbourne, Carme Pinós’s MPavilion is the first-ever public work by a female Spanish architect in Australia. “It’s an offer to the city,” Carme explains – and by all standards, it’s a remarkable one.
A design philosophy defined by generosity and sharing shines through Pinós’ oeuvre beyond the MPavilion. Projects like Escola Massana (Art and Design centre in Barcelona) ring true of this mentality, of architecture that gives back to its surroundings and to the people inhabiting them. Pinós brought this understanding to the MPavilion also. “When I arrived, I observed the park,” she explains. “I tried to make a space, a shell … but also like a window to the park and to the city.”
The sculptural design was inspired by origami; the eye is lead on a sweeping journey across the structure. Steel-framed timber wings meet in the centre to form the roof that eventually declines, almost perched, to rest upon ‘mounds’ that serve as seating-cum-garden. Looking at a birds-eye plan, one could be forgiven for mistaking these mounds for the spiralling shells of a nautilus. “It’s a combination of nature and structure,” Carme elaborates.
The timber latticework invites glimpses of the surrounding landscape, a feature that Carme emphasises is important. “When it rains you can feel the water. You feel protected, but you feel in the middle of nature.” The welcoming spirit of the MPavilion makes it the ideal location for the hundreds of events it will host during its 2018 program.
Now that MPavilion is open to the public, Carme thinks of her creation with fondness. “I feel very proud,” she reflects. Looking at MPavilion 2018 rising from the earth at in the Queen Victoria Gardens, we agree that there’s plenty to be proud of.
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