Studio Ongarato and MPavilion’s collaboration on Australia’s leading architecture commission

Launched in 2014, MPavilion is Australia’s leading architecture commission and design event held in Melbourne. Each year the Naomi Milgrom Foundation commissions a temporary pavilion from a leading international architect to house free talks, workshops, performances and installations which are open to the public over four months in the Queen Victoria Gardens.  

Built on collaborations, MPavilion is a step beyond the museum concept. It’s a cultural laboratory and utopian space – a container of ideas and new civic space that encourages design debate and cultural exchange.

Studio Ongarato have been the MPavilion brand custodians since its inception, creating a unique event identity and associated signage each year to reflect the architect including Sean Godsell (2014), Amanda Levete of AL_A (2015), Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai (2016), OMA/ Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten (2017), Carme Pinós of Estudio Carme Pinós (2018) and Glenn Murcutt (2019).

Five MPavilions can now be visited in and around Melbourne. MPavilion 2017, designed by Netherlands-based duo Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of design studio OMA,  can now be found on the grounds of Monash University’s Clayton campus; MPavilion 2016, designed by Bijoy Jain of India’s Studio Mumbai, is located at Melbourne Zoo; MPavilion 2015, designed by AL_A, the studio of British architect Amanda Levete, has a permanent home in Melbourne’s Docklands; and MPavilion 2014, designed by Australian architect Sean Godsell of Sean Godsell Architects, can be found at Melbourne’s Hellenic Museum. MPavilion 2018, designed by esteemed Barcelona-based architect and educator Carme Pinós of Estudio Carme Pinós, will soon be relocated to a new permanent location.

In 2019, the sixth MPavilion in the ongoing series is designed by Australian architect Glenn Murcutt AO. Internationally influential, Glenn is the only Australian architect to receive the prestigious Pritzker Prize, awarded for his environmentally sensitive and responsible designs with a distinctly Australian character.