MPAVILION

MPavilion is Australia’s leading annual architecture commission, located in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens. Established in 2014 by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, it invites internationally renowned architects to design a temporary pavilion each spring–summer, supported by a free public program of talks, workshops, performances, and installations. Conceived as a cultural laboratory, it fosters debate on the design of today and tomorrow, and has become a vital platform for creativity, civic engagement, and cultural exchange.

Studio Ongarato was commissioned to create the name, brand identity, and program language for MPavilion. Two founding principles informed the work. The first was to unite Melbourne and the Pavilion as a single entity, supported by a distinct naming system that extends to all program activities—MMeets, MTalks, MExchange, and MKids—anchoring the initiative in the city’s cultural fabric. The second was the idea of the Pavilion as a container of ideas: a site for collaboration, creative expression, and community participation.

The identity, custom typeface and signature colour were conceived as an architectural framework—containers for content that evolve annually in response to each pavilion’s design. While the structure remains constant, the visual expression changes to reflect the form, materiality, or concept of the year’s commission. This approach ensures both continuity and renewal, mirroring the program’s architectural diversity.

The publication Encounters, Encounters with Design and architecture, extends this philosophy into print. Conceived as a hybrid between formal monograph and accessible magazine, it captures not only the architectural commissions but also the events, collaborations, and audiences that have shaped MPavilion. The title reflects the program’s essence: the meeting of design, ideas, and people.

For over a decade, MPavilion has become embedded in Melbourne’s identity—an architectural and cultural emblem that celebrates experimentation while cultivating civic pride. Through its evolving built forms and continually refreshed programming, it stands as a lasting contribution to the city’s design legacy and its place in the global conversation on architecture.