MAP Studio's MPavilion Unveiled

Although MAP studio was revealed to be the architects of the latest MPavilion in May of this year, the Venice-based studio of Traudy Pelzel and Francesco Magnani had been working on the design of it since 2020. Like other events around the world, the normally annual construction of a temporary pavilion in Queen Victoria Gardens, as commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, was delayed due to the pandemic. Once it opens in November "The LightCatcher" will be the first new MPavilion since Glenn Murcutt's iteration in 2019/20. Last year, the Foundation confronted the pandemic by moving its summer events to the Parkade Carpark.

MAP studio's design for the MPavilion is an elevated steel grid supporting mirrored panels that reflect the environs but also serve as shading elements. The galvanized and painted steel frame is propped upon four U-shaped precast concrete columns near the corners of the cubic volume. The ground plane is treated as a colorful surface that will be reflected by the aluminum panels, interacting with reflections of people and the surrounding landscape. 

In a short video (embedded below), Traudy Pelzel says of the studio's design: "The structure we imagine is a shimmering device that qualifies itself as an urban lighthouse that hosts and enlightens the cultural activities planned for the 2021 summer season in Melbourne… A kaleidoscopic structure that reflects and amplifies activities, people and colors. For this reason, we call it 'The LightCatcher.'"

"The LightCatcher" will be on display in Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens from November 11, 2021 until March 27, 2022, hosting numerous events that are TBD. Like previous MPavilions, after its four-month run the Naomi Milgrom Foundation will gift the structure to a public places somewhere in Victoria, giving the project a permanent life beyond its initial summer.