MPavilion

What does it take to commission and put together an event like MPavilion? How does the design process unfurl? What does the handmade architecture movement propose for the future of architecture? For our first MTalks event for MPavilion 2016/17 we revisited the process that has born Bijoy Jain’s stunning design—from brief, to Studio Mumbai’s unique creative process, to build. Join MPavilion 2016/17 architect Bijoy Jain and MPavilion’s patron Naomi Milgrom along with Peter Maddison as host, presenter of Grand Designs Australia and renowned architect in his own right, as they sat down and had a chat about all things MPavilion, architecture and more!

The word ‘lore’ refers to a body of knowledge, especially of a traditional nature, typically passed on by word of mouth. So, how does the concept of lore relate to architecture? At this Melbourne School of Design and MPavilion lecture, celebrated Indian architect Bijoy Jain discussed how the concept of lore is central to his practice and philosophy.

The founder of sustainable architecture firm Studio Mumbai, Jain studied and worked in architecture in the United States before returning to India in 1995 to establish his practice. Jain has won many awards for his work, including the Grande Medaille d’Or from the Academie D’Architecture in Paris (2014), and was commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation to design this year’s annual MPavilion in Melbourne.

Jain believes in using local materials, labour and expertise and drawing from traditional skills and and building techniques in all his projects. His philosophy of local collaboration and sensitivity to landscape and environment has influenced his plan for the MPavilion 2016, which will be a ‘symbol of the elemental nature of communal structures.’

In this lecture at the University of Melbourne, Jain informed attendees about how local lore can inform beautiful and sustainable architecture.

Presented in partnership with MPavilion, the University of Melbourne and the Australia India Institute.

Ethical beliefs shape the way we live and work—what we do, what we make and the world we create through our choices. Policy makers, architects and designers hold very privileged positons within our community as their beliefs impact many others due to the nature of their work.

In the Boyd Foundation's 2016 talks series, eight eminent speakers—all highly regarded for their thoughtfulness and recognised capabilities in their respective fields—reflect and discuss their views and approaches to architecture.

Hear from MPavilion 2016's architect Bijoy Jain on his ethical framework behind his approach to architecture, and its ability to heal.

Start your day with a conversation about how we shape the city—and how the city shapes us—hosted by Barrie Barton, co-founder of Right Angle Studio, Rooftop Cinema and Three Thousand, Melbourne’s first independent online city guide. Reporting on new music, good books, independent fashion, food and drink in the city since 2005, Three Thousand is written by locals for locals, and reflects the changing cultural landscape of Melbourne. Pop down after work and listen to a line-up of local thinkers and doers join Barrie to talk about what goes on in Melbourne’s lived spaces—day and night, rain or shine—and why.

Image: Lost and Found Hotel room, Melbourne, 2011. Photo by Right Angle Studio.

Opposites attract in the wild, in romance and—evidently—in architecture. Join Toby Whitfield (CEO of ShapeShift, our evening’s presenters) and Richard Blythe (dean of RMIT’s School of Architecture and Design) as they discuss the fascinating history of how architects and designers make use of composite building materials in their work.

How do you choose the right fibre and resin for a 34-storey skyscraper facade? What material will help a high-tech pavilion—specifically, the one we’re sitting in—respond to the weather? Just like a dressmaker or tailor, architects approach the merging of composites through the orientation of the fibre, the cut and the bias. Listen in as our panellists explain the act of weaving materials together for form and strength—a practice that dates back to the very first human dwellings—and offer practical information and insights into when and why certain approaches to woven materials are preferable over others.

Examining recognisable Melbourne structures—including the VCCC Hospital facade; the immediately iconic Swanston Square skyscraper, whose exterior features the portrait of Wurundjeri-willam elder William Barak; and MPavilion itself, whose carbon-fibre poles are strengthened as a result of their woven design—Toby and Richard will introduce you to composite engineering, and encourage you to look twice at the structures around you. #MPavilion

Consortium: A series of conversations within a series of talks—presented by a coalition of partners who support emerging and experimental art and design practices in Melbourne and beyond. This first Consortium of the 2015/16 season brought Next Wave, Gertrude Contemporary, West Space, RMIT Design Hub and MPavilion got together to consort on invisible hands.

The panel—including artists Anastasia Klose, Lou Hubbard and Liang Luscombe, writer and artist Aurelia Guo, and writer and feminist Eva Birch—asks: What kinds of emotional, affective and otherwise-hidden forms of unwaged labour hold up the art industry? To whom is this work relegated? What’s the relation between caring and sharing, and working and performing? In other words, what are the professional and social obligations of artists? And how can one strike or resist these un-unionised forms of ‘invisible’ labour?

Following the discussion, DJ and artist Lisa Lerkenfeldt will play a selection of music taking inspiration from notions of anachronism and lesser-known female music histories.

Let us know what you think #MPavilion

Image: Helen Hughes, ‘Watching Pickpocket’, 2015

When you think of the bustling sidewalks of New York City, walls of lush greenery do not immediately come to mind. But environmental artist Natalie Jeremijenko wants to challenge ideas about ‘normal’ cityscapes—through her Agbags project. Agbags are vertical urban farms that practically aim to promote environmental health and, more broadly, get people thinking about architecture’s intersection with the natural environment. In New York, Natalie created a wall of these soil-filled bags suspended in air as part of a project by NYU’s Environmental Health Clinic. At MPavilion, join Natalie as she teaches you to make your own Agbag, and listen as she talks about the environment—and how creative we can get in making our living spaces a little more green.

Tell us what you think #MPavilion

(Image courtesy of Natalie Jeremijenko)

Drawing our marathon MRelay to an end, Utopia explores an ideal, imaginary state in which society, politics and culture are perfect. It can often be difficult to face the reality of today’s world, where global climate change is leading to rising sea levels, unprecedented environmental destruction, a widening gap between rich and poor, and countless human rights violations. It’s easy to dream instead of a world in which all societal ills have been solved.

In his 1516 treatise Utopia, Sir Thomas More imagined a fictional island society. But the concept of utopia has evolved to mean any community with a visionary system of political and societal perfection – cities that function to improve their citizens’ daily lives. Some utopian visions focus on design and technology, others on open, untouched landscapes, or new social orders. Can radically avant-garde and cutting-edge design unite us? How do we help solve the world’s problems and society’s dilemmas?

Utopia was hosted by Michael Williams, director of the Wheeler Centre. Speakers included founding director of Breathe Architecture Jeremy McLeod; curator for the Australian pavilion at the 57th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale 2017 Natalie King; dancer and performer Becky Hilton; strategic adviser, theologian and master of Ormond College Rufus Black; artist and writer Aurelia Guo; landscape architect and managing director of Atelier Ten’s Australian office Paul Stoller; and medical anthropologist Gregory Phillips, who currently consults in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in his role as executive director of Abstarr Consulting.

After contemplating the defining nature of our urban landscapes it’s time to consider the role of personal transformation. Transformation design is a human-centred, interdisciplinary process that seeks to change the behaviour and form of individuals, systems and organisations in desirable and sustainable ways—often for socially progressive ends.

The Transformation leg of MRelay explores how we can apply transformation design skills in non-traditional settings, which often leads to new and original design outcomes. Transformation designers aren’t always ‘designers’—can each of us play a role as moderator, participant or co-creator?

Transformation was hosted by Rose Hiscock, director of Science Gallery Melbourne. Speakers included Ramona Koval, broadcaster, writer and editor; Professor Rob Adams, director of City Design and Projects at the City of Melbourne; Mary Portas, founder of creative communications agency Portas Agency; Simone LeAmon, Hugh Williamson curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of Victoria; Cameron Bruhn, editor at Architecture Media; Oluwaseyi Sosanya, designer, engineer and inventor of the 3D Weaver; and Justine Clark, architectural editor, writer and researcher, and founding editor of Parlour.

The second leg of MRelay is Ritual. It’s all about the origin of form, and its connection to the invention and interpretation of rituals. Do we offer a means of communication when we conduct a set of routine actions in the same manner, or perform a set of actions in a fixed sequence? Can these symbolic sets of actions create community? How do they persist in and affect our everyday lives?

How important is architecture to rituals? Do buildings express rules that go on to influence formal actions and even cultural movements? Do buildings lose their original functions and become monuments? The birth of contemporary rituals also enables our ideas of ‘design’ to evolve in ways whose shapes and languages are yet to be invented.

Ritual was hosted by Robyn Archer AO, singer, writer and artistic director. Speakers included artist and director in the performing, visual and media arts David Pledger; jewellery designer Susan Cohn; researcher, writer and poet Oscar Schwartz; journalist and writer Gabriella Coslovich; Indigenous contemporary artist Reko Rennie; Australian Centre for the Moving Image curator Sarah Tutton; and theatre designer Richard Roberts.