MPavilion 10

MPavilion is Australia's leading architectural commission, created by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. Annually, an acclaimed architect is engaged to design an experimental pavilion to host a five-month festival of free design events in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens. To celebrate a symbolic milestone in this decade-long project of architectural excellence, prolific Japanese architect Tadao Ando was invited to design MPavilion 10, his first ever Australian project.

Tadao Ando’s response for MPavilion 10 was to create a memorable structure that responds directly to its environment and in perfect harmony with its surrounds. Conceived as a dynamic meeting place, the MPavilion 10 design elegantly reflects Ando’s signature geometric interventions in nature and precise use of concrete. Striving for spatial purity, Ando describes his design as a blank canvas, “an architecture of emptiness, that in its silence lets light and breeze enter and breathe life into it." MPavilion 10 is a balanced symphony of geometry and nature, primarily utilising circles and squares. A 14.4-metre aluminium-clad disc, resting on a central concrete column, serves as the canopy, while offset squares create two entrances that lead to the centre of the pavilion. Concrete walls of varying lengths partially enclose the space, evoking a tranquil sanctuary reminiscent of traditional Japanese walled gardens. Long horizontal openings running the length of the north and south walls provide a visual dialogue, connecting views of the cityscape and parklands to MPavilion's interior. The symmetrical internal arrangement is half paved, and half reflecting pool, creating a mesmerising mirroring of the pavilion canopy, sky, city, and bordering nature. A standout element of Tadao Ando’s considered and icon design is the craftsmanship of the concrete. A master of off-form concrete, he explains that the quality of the construction does not depend on the mix itself but rather the painstaking formwork in which the concrete is cast. This was certainly no exception with MPavilion 10. Beyond the physical structure, Ando’s serene and contemplative design for MPavilion 10, serves as the perfect backdrop for Melbourne’s community to come together to engage in dialogue, exchange ideas, create connections and reflect on the urgent urban and civic concerns of today. Over the course of a 134-day season, the MPavilion 10 project welcomed more than 150,000 visitors, engaged 300 collaborators to produce over 230 free events. At the close of each season, the Naomi Milgrom Foundation gifts the MPavilion to the people of Victoria, where it continues to be enjoyed by the community as part of a growing collection of public contemporary architecture – fulfilling the architect’s desire for the pavilion to be a living memory by “creating a sense of eternity within Melbourne. An experience that will last forever in the hearts of all who visit.”