MPavilion

New for MPavilion 2017: Friday night debates. We put leading and emerging minds behind the microphones, and pit them head-to-head in this series of debates on architecture and the built environment.

On this spring evening in November, join Mel Bright (MAKE architecture), Andre Bonnice (WOWOWA), Ben Milbourne (Bild Architecture), Amy Muir (MUIR Architecture), Adam Pustola (Lyons) and Claire Scorpo. Together, but from opposing sides of the argument, they’ll dissect the statement: ‘The digital is more influential than the physical in architecture.’

Over the course of an hour, this group of emerging architects will passionately state their perspectives on a series of propositions. They’ll look at the competing dynamics of the speed and influence of architecture in the media and popular culture versus the reality of realising architecture and design.

Photo by Katelin Butler

What happens when you celebrate LGBTQIA+ elders, aged 65 and over, on one big night at Melbourne Town Hall? And how can we can we promote this feeling every day in our cities? Originating as a monthly social dance class, the Coming Back Out Ball was a red-carpet event held on October 7 this year to build a culture of respect for the LGBTQIA+ community.

As part of Sibling Architecture’s ‘Designing the age-friendly city‘ day-long takeover of MPavilion, join Coming Back Out Ball organisers and attendees at lunchtime for a performative and participatory conversation to explore the meaning and the significance of the Coming Back Out Ball as part of making an age-friendly and inclusive city.

The Coming Back Out Ball. Photo by Bryony Jackson

In 2017, Melbourne was again named the world’s most liveable city for a record seven years in a row—but how liveable is Melbourne for our ageing population? And what can we do better now to plan for the increasing percentage of people over 65 in coming decades?

As part of Sibling Architecture’s ‘Designing the age-friendly city‘ day-long takeover of MPavilion, this evening panel event will cover topics of technology, diversity, care and liveability, and will be an interactive conversation in which audience members are encouraged to bring questions and comments for a diverse panel of speakers, moderated by Sibling Architecture co-director Timothy Moore and Melbourne School of Design director Alan Pert.

SPEAKERS

—Lorraine Calder, Head of Planning and Design, Australian Unity Retirement Living

—Kim Dovey, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, The University of Melbourne

—Frances Maloney, Coordinator Community Development and Positive Ageing, City of Yarra

—Jenny Waycott, Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne

Discover the full line-up for ‘Designing the age-friendly city’ here.

Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher has been headlined as many things, including ‘the world’s most provocative architect’. A true believer in innovation, Patrik is not someone who shies away from engaging in challenging conversations on some of the most urgent issues of our generation. He notoriously created a worldwide outcry following his keynote address at the World Architecture Festival in November 2016, where he presented a controversial ‘urban policy manifesto’ to initiate a critical discourse on the future of cities.

Standing by our belief that the MPavilion stage is a place for discussion and debate, Patrik Schumacher joins us at MPavilion, along with Victorian State Government architect Jill Garner, to talk architecture, planning and the built environment and explore what it takes to lead a world-renowned firm carrying one of the biggest names in modern architecture—the iconic Zaha Hadid.

Come along with your burning questions—this conversation between Patrik and Jill will be followed by an audience Q&A.

This event is made possible with the assistance of UEM Sunrise.

Open Tabs is a fast-paced, lighthearted exploration of trends and internet pop culture with five Melbourne creative luminaries—Beci Orpin, Dave King, Jeremy Wortsman, Lucy Feagins, and Marc Martin—who bravely bare their souls (and computing devices) to share their current internet obsessions. Peering over opened laptops with an eye on their open browser tabs, this eclectic panel of Melbourne cultural and creative leaders will talk about what’s shaping creativity today in this awesome MTalks gabfest. It’s beers and ideas like never before.

This MPavilion event is created in collaboration with SAMPLE Brew and The Jacky Winter Group.

As the housing affordability topic rises in our minds in unison with rental and purchase prices, Australian state and local governments have started investigating the possibility of helping propagate a build-to-rent housing sector. Described as ‘radical’ by Australian press, but an initiative common in the USA and the UK, build-to-rent communities involve development designed with the intent of long-term—sometimes indefinite—leases. Providing long-term security for residents, and touted as a topical treatment for the housing affordability crisis, building to rent is the topic of this High Density Happiness talk brought to you by Open Journal.

In this panel discussion lead by Laura Philips join Sam Tarascio, James Tutton, Nerida Conisbee and Matthew Palm to discuss the impact of the build-to-rent model across different spheres: from design implications and creating strong communities to the cultural acceptance of long-term renters and how to form the policy towards security of tenure.

Photo by Derek Swalwell

Celebrated Albanian artist Anri Sala has gained international attention for his video, animation and photographic works. With an emphasis on slowness, stillness and intimate detail, Sala explores the interface of documentary and fiction, with his work rooted in memory, history and a delicate navigation of political and social contexts.

In October, Anri Sala will visit Australia to unveil an innovative new installation of sculpture and sound, The Last Resort, co-presented by Kaldor Public Art Projects and Art & About Sydney. While in Australia, Sala will visit Melbourne and join Shepparton Art Museum director Rebecca Coates for this very special in-conversation event at MPavilion.

This event will be Auslan interpreted.

Special thanks to Kaldor Public Art Projects for making this event possible.

The Small Homes Service, initiated by Robin Boyd in 1947, sought to popularise the modern home and make it available to a broad public. It had an immense positive impact on the then burgeoning suburbs, with an estimated 15% of new homes in Victoria being built as part of the scheme. But toward the end of his life Robin Boyd could already see the deleterious effect suburban sprawl was having on the physical and social fabric of the city, advocating for new medium-density typologies. Boyd’s warnings went unheeded, and the suburbs continue to extend further into the horizon today. Meanwhile, the practice of architecture has all but abandoned the fringe, instead hitching its wagon to the boutique luxury market of the inner ring.

Could these issues be addressed with a new Small Homes Service today? What would such a programme look like? If he were here now, what would Robin Boyd do? Join historian Phillip Goad and curator Rory Hyde as they evaluate the legacy of the Small Homes Service, and invite you to join a discussion as to what form a revived version of it could take today.

With thanks to the Melbourne School of Design for their support.

We acknowledge the Robin Boyd Foundation for the fantastic work they do.

Having a baby changes your perception of the city. Suddenly things become less accessible: trams are difficult to lift a pram into, there’s no space in your favourite cafe to change a nappy and events happen at night while you soothe your baby to sleep—and so the trials of new parenthood are mostly screened off from public view.

Collaborative duo Guest, Riggs will invert this private spectacle and take us with them by turning MPavilion 2017 into a public performance of the banalities of new parenthood, where the rotating grandstand of Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten’s amphitheatre-style structure will raise nappy-changing to new cultural heights, and where comfortable seating will support open-air breastfeeding and bottle-feeding. Guest, Riggs take Rem Koolhaas’s and David Gianotten’s statement that the space could function as a playground literally: the floor will be given over to babies’ exploits, made possible with a series of baby-friendly interventions within MPavilion.

The first instalment of four events across our program is titled HOUSE and focuses on the architecture of parenthood in the domestic realm: the housebound experience, the baby stuff you have to make space for, and your favourite breastfeeding chair.

Jessica Friedmann will read from her collection of essays Things That Helped, which charts her journey through postpartum depression after the birth of her son, and discuss the overlap between ordinary experiences of new parenting, mental illness, and other forms of disability. She will draw upon the question: what aspects of the city are still accessible to new parents, when they experience both the social exclusion that comes with a new baby and the physical and mental sensitivities to stimulus that accompany PND?

Natalie Miles and Caitlyn Parry—together Studio Neon—will discuss their experience of setting up a collaborative practice in the presence of a small human, and how this affected their working process and, in turn, their work. They will show Studio Neon’s competition entry for the ‘Workplace of the Future’ which is based around a pram walking loop (which they designed while pushing a pram around the streets of Coburg). Natalie will also present ‘Mills—The Toy Management House’ which she worked on with Austin Maynard Architects. Visitors will also see a mobile installation by Studio Neon referencing the theme of House — which we can all expect to see develop throughout the series.

Additional dates, with themes and guests to be announced, for MMeets—A stage for new parenthood:

Tuesday 14 November 2017, 12pm–3pm

Tuesday 12 December 2017, 12pm–3pm

Tuesday 16 January 2018, 12pm–3pm

This event is proudly supported by Baby Rest.

Having a baby changes your perception of the city. Suddenly things become less accessible: trams are difficult to lift a pram into, there’s no space in your favourite cafe to change a nappy and events happen at night while you soothe your baby to sleep—and so the trials of new parenthood are mostly screened off from public view.

Collaborative duo Guest, Riggs will invert this private spectacle and take us with them by turning MPavilion 2017 into a public performance of the banalities of new parenthood, where the rotating grandstand of Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten’s amphitheatre-style structure will raise nappy-changing to new cultural heights, and where comfortable seating will support open-air breastfeeding and bottle-feeding. Guest, Riggs take Rem Koolhaas’s and David Gianotten’s statement that the space could function as a playground literally: the floor will be given over to babies’ exploits, made possible with a series of baby-friendly interventions within MPavilion.

The first instalment of four events across our program is titled HOUSE and focuses on the architecture of parenthood in the domestic realm: the housebound experience, the baby stuff you have to make space for, and your favourite breastfeeding chair.

Jessica Friedmann will read from her collection of essays Things That Helped, which charts her journey through postpartum depression after the birth of her son, and discuss the overlap between ordinary experiences of new parenting, mental illness, and other forms of disability. She will draw upon the question: what aspects of the city are still accessible to new parents, when they experience both the social exclusion that comes with a new baby and the physical and mental sensitivities to stimulus that accompany PND?

Natalie Miles and Caitlyn Parry—together Studio Neon—will discuss their experience of setting up a collaborative practice in the presence of a small human, and how this affected their working process and, in turn, their work. They will show Studio Neon’s competition entry for the ‘Workplace of the Future’ which is based around a pram walking loop (which they designed while pushing a pram around the streets of Coburg). Natalie will also present ‘Mills—The Toy Management House’ which she worked on with Austin Maynard Architects. Visitors will also see a mobile installation by Studio Neon referencing the theme of House — which we can all expect to see develop throughout the series.

Additional dates, with themes and guests to be announced, for MMeets—A stage for new parenthood:

Tuesday 14 November 2017, 12pm–3pm

Tuesday 12 December 2017, 12pm–3pm

Tuesday 16 January 2018, 12pm–3pm

This event is proudly supported by Baby Rest.