OMA designs the MPavilion 2017 in Melbourne

MPavilion is a new urban space that is open to experiments and events for four months of every year. The fourth pavilion, which will officially open in autumn 2017, was designed by Dutch architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten (OMA). This project is the world-famous studio’s first Australian architecture commission.

The pavilion stands in the Queen Victoria Gardens in the centre of Melbourne. OMA has designed a temporary structure that not only offers sufficient space for various events, but can also become a performance in itself. The new pavilion was inspired by the idea of an amphitheatre. Two stages, one static and one movable, form the setting for the performance venue. The larger, static stage is embedded in the surrounding landscape; the smaller, movable one blurs the difference between stage and audience space by the simple act of turning. The technical infrastructure of the pavilion, such as lighting and curtains, has been placed inside the roof structure, a two-metre-high steel grid. With the impressive cityscape in the background, the architects of this year’s MPavilion invite visitors to take part in a discussion of the future urban development of Melbourne and its surrounding area.