MPavilion

Since 2003, Architects for Peace have pioneered a mission of sustainable urban development based on social justice, solidarity, respect and peace. Listen as they lead this talk about the history and importance of democratic public spaces in urban environments, examining the necessity of places that are free and open to all members of the public and how such spaces foster a sense of community—critical for the reason that humans are said to be making fewer real life connections. Looking at relevant examples from Melbourne and around the world, this invigorating discussion delves deeply into contemporary challenges of public spaces.

Speakers include architect, urban designer and Architects for Peace founder, Beatriz Maturana Cossio; professor of architecture and urban design at the University of Melbourne, Kim Dovey; architect, design tutor and researcher Peter Raisbeck; and moderator Lara Brown—architecture and urban design writer, and former senior editor of Chicago Architect magazine.

This event was made possible in part by a grant from the City of Melbourne.

Narrative is a potent source for critical reflection and the dissemination of alternative knowledge and awareness. Narrative possesses a powerful capacity to affect change. And though fiction has been embraced within wider design communities, it continues to hold a peripheral position within mainstream architectural teaching and practice.

This one-of-a-kind MTalks explores the role of architecture as storyteller at community levels—considering diverse cultural, LGBTQIA+, gender-nonconforming and age-inclusive narratives. It also considers the individual, including the tales of the architect, the client and the student of architectural design.

Reflecting on the ever-evolving role of temporal media possibilities for students and practitioners, this panel interrogated alternative architectural environments—such as screen and online gaming—as a vehicle for rethinking both our spatial surroundings and public space.

Listen as Joshua Boggs, Katica Pedisic, Ken Wong, Rachel Hurst, Simona Castricum and Stephanie Liddicoat facilitate a timely discussion that approaches the role of narrative within diverse media platforms as a means to envelope the community, drawing us into more diverse and inclusive architectural and urban encounters.

PLEASE NOTE: This recording was cut short and is incomplete. It has been edited.

Your walls can talk, so what are they saying to your body and mind? Melbourne design, architecture and medicine collided in this exciting event that looked beyond functional approaches to consider health and wellbeing. Join a panel of medical and design experts as they explore the power of design in our devices and living spaces—from homes to workplaces to hospitals and more.

Curated by Jo Simkin, senior curator of human biology and medicine for Museums Victoria, the panel featured Leah Heiss, award-winning designer working at the nexus of design, health and technology; Julie Bernhardt, Florey Institute professor, clinician scientist and brain injury recovery expert; and moderator Hope Gates-Scovelle, a doctor specialising in emergency medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.

This event was made possible by the Hugh D T Williamson Foundation through funding for MPavilion’s series of events looking at design & science.

Main image by Kate Jenkin

Swimming, floating, playing in the Yarra River (Birrarung)? Nope, we’re not joking—currently in Melbourne, a number of community-led projects are working hard to activate the Yarra’s inner-city reaches. Though each of the projects are different, they all have one aim in common: to restore the river so it can be used for on- and in-water activities that can a) benefit health and wellbeing, b) drive investment to green infrastructure, and c) attract more people to our beautiful, vibrant city.

These projects, along with recent Victorian Government initiatives to improve protection of the Yarra (Birrarung), present a special opportunity to think about what’s next for the river.

Led by YarraPools—the team behind the proposal to construct a permanent swimming pool in the Yarra in Melbourne’s CBD—in conjunction with the Inflatable Regatta, the Yarra River Keeper, CoCreate Cremorne and the North Wharf wetlands proposal, this workshop and discussion explored community views of the Yarra. Each organisation pitched—in six minutes only!—their concept or idea for Yarra River improvement. This was followed by a panel discussion around how to get community-led projects happening.

This event was made possible by the Hugh D T Williamson Foundation through funding for MPavilion’s series of events looking at design & science.

Swimming, floating, playing in the Yarra River (Birrarung)? Nope, we’re not joking—currently in Melbourne, a number of community-led projects are working hard to activate the Yarra’s inner-city reaches. Though each of the projects are different, they all have one aim in common: to restore the river so it can be used for on- and in-water activities that can a) benefit health and wellbeing, b) drive investment to green infrastructure, and c) attract more people to our beautiful, vibrant city.

These projects, along with recent Victorian Government initiatives to improve protection of the Yarra (Birrarung), present a special opportunity to think about what’s next for the river.

Led by YarraPools—the team behind the proposal to construct a permanent swimming pool in the Yarra in Melbourne’s CBD—in conjunction with the Inflatable Regatta, the Yarra River Keeper, CoCreate Cremorne and the North Wharf wetlands proposal, this workshop and discussion explored community views of the Yarra. Each organisation pitched—in six minutes only!—their concept or idea for Yarra River improvement. This was followed by a panel discussion around how to get community-led projects happening.

This event was made possible by the Hugh D T Williamson Foundation through funding for MPavilion’s series of events looking at design & science.

Philosopher? Furniture designer? City planner? Generally bored and confused by stuff? This extra-special MMeets is for you.

Welcome to the Flat Pack Philosophy Circle: an active thinking space that aims to create an environment in which we can safely engage in conversation and ask questions in the spirit of wisdom, free from the stylised antagonism modelled by our politicians and usual talking heads. Led by Amy Rudder, this conversation invited the public to pull up a seat and free philosophy from the confines of late-night taxi rides and academic institutions.

Author, illustrator and founder of Melbournestyle, Maree Coote reads from Robyn Boid: Architect, her most recent illustrated book.

Robyn Boid: Architect tells the story of a small, dedicated bird who loves to build nests and dreams of becoming an architect. A gentle introduction to the world of architecture, kids will love learning about different architectural shapes and what makes good design, while following along with this encouraging tale of creative achievement paired with involved illustrations.

Signal is a creative studio that provides emerging and established artists with opportunities and spaces for exploration, creation and showcasing.

In this MTalks, hear the Signal Young Curators as they drop by MPavilion to chat with artists from the Signal Summer Program about their inspirations, creative processes and careers: featuring a dizzying bunch of artists including Yandell Walton, Amy Jo Jory, Michael Fikaris and more.

Beekeeper and artist Nic Dowse is joined by artist Zhu Ohmu, both of multi-disciplinary Honey Fingers Collective, for an MTalks that explores our human relationship with nature.

This discussion explores how urban beekeeping—and making things like insect hotels, swarm traps, possum boxes and bee hives—can teach us new ways to think about non-human beings, urban ecologies, urban food webs and the city-versus-nature divide. Nic and Zhu will guide us through the notions that getting involved in activities like insect hotels can give us a sneak peek into the complex entanglements of humans and ecologies in the twenty-first century. Special attention will be paid to ways that we can make room for a variety of ‘native’ and ‘exotic’ pollinators in our gardens and balconies.

Nic and Zhu will also present examples of beehives and insect hotels that they have made.

Come to MPavilion and bee involved!

Update: On Tue 21 Nov 2017, a change was made to this event. It was originally titled ‘Make an insect hotel: An urban ecology workshop’ and included a workshop component.

This event is made possible by the Hugh D T Williamson Foundation through funding for MPavilion’s series of events looking at design & science.

In January 2018, Soft Baroque—a.k.a. London-based creative duo Saša Štucin and Nicholas Gardner—brought their tentacular manipulations of interior design, furniture design and visual art to MPavilion with Foamy Feeling, an installation created specifically for Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten / OMA’s amphitheatre-inspired MPavilion 2017.

In this one-off artist talk, Saša and Nicholas appeared in conversation with MPavilion’s Jessie French, ruminating on the origins of their collaboration, their delicate navigation of the conceptual and the pragmatic, and the humour and sense of play that underscores their multi-pronged practice. They also shared the process behind the Foamy Feeling installation with an interactive, live ‘making’ session of these unusual and unexpected forms.

This event was part of the MPavilion 2017 International Program, supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.