Amanda Levete’s MPavilion creates a forest-like canopy for Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens
London has the Serpentine Pavilion, New York has its MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program, and recently Australia got its own annual architectural celebration in the form of the MPavilion. The brainchild of Naomi Milgrom and designed by a different architect every year, this installation was conceived to make its appearance on the grounds of Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens every October to house talks, performances and to interact with the park's many visitors.
The project's life began in 2014, with a pavilion commissioned by the not-for-profit Naomi Milgrom Foundation. The clever, open-able design by local architect Sean Godsell was well received and a new tradition was established. The second pavilion, this year's highly anticipated structure, is an offering by London based architect Amanda Levete and her practice AL_A.
Resembling a forest canopy and inspired by the light that penetrates the park's foliage, the new MPavilion filters the daylight, sheltering its guests. Featuring the latest technology in nautical engineering, the structure may look delicate but it is anything but fragile. The architects worked with Australian specialist mouldCAM to use a boundary‐pushing technology of composite materials that allow the roof to be strikingly slim - just a few millimetres thick.
Construction is currently in progress and the structure is set to be inaugurated in early October by the V&A Director Martin Roth - a fitting match, since Levete's design for the London museum's is also currently underway on the other side of the globe, to be completed in 2017.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his 1990s-inspired collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Cathay Pacific’s new business class Aria Suites take flight
Cathay Pacific raises the bar for business-class travel with the launch of the much-anticipated Aria Suites
By Lauren Ho Published
-
A Melbourne family home draws on classic modernism to create a pavilion in the landscape
This Melbourne family home by Vibe Design Group was inspired by midcentury design and shaped to be an extension of its verdant site
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Tour Clifton House, an airy Bondi family home, brimming with natural light and foliage
Clifton House by Anthony Gill Architects is a North Bondi home using an abundance of vegetation to create a slice of privacy within the suburbs
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Tour this compact Melbourne home, where a small footprint is big on efficiency and experimentation
Northcote House is designed by architects David Leggett and Paul Loh as their own home in Melbourne
By Stephen Crafti Published
-
Bridging Boyd is the rebirth of a modernist Melbourne home
Bridging Boyd by Jolson is a modernist Melbourne home reimagined for the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This Sydney house is a family's stylish seaside sanctuary
This Sydney house is a young family's suburban dream come true thanks to Alexandra Kidd Interior Design and Rich Carr Architects
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practices
In the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Peek inside this secluded rural Australian retreat by Alexander Symes, in sync with nature
Based in Sydney, Alexander Symes Architect joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Tianna Williams Published
-
At the heart of Sydney Metro’s expanded Central Station lies a spectacular new public space
The new extension to the Sydney Metro, designed by Woods Bagot in collaboration with John McAslan + Partners, can now be accessed beneath its monumental roof structure above the city’s historic Central Station
By Jonathan Bell Published