MPavilion 10 | Tadao Ando Architect & Associates

The design for the M Pavilion began with a desire to find a scene of eternity within the oasis of Melbourne, the Queen Victoria Gardens. Eternal, not in material or structure, but in the memory of a landscape that will continue to live in people’s hearts.

To reflect the lively nature of the site, like a blank canvas, I imagined an architecture of emptiness. Pure geometry outlines the composition of this design. Ancient Egyptians used fundamental geometry to create ordered spaces and structures in the natural world.

Geometry formed the foundation of philosophical study in ancient Greece. It is the expression of human reason and the pursuit of ethereal space. With the circle and square, emptiness is given form.

The emptiness, in its silence, lets the light and wind enter and breathe life into the space. The emptiness provokes a chance encounter between individuals and engenders dialogues.

The emptiness resonates with the environment, becomes one with the garden, and blossoms into a microcosmos of infinite creativity.

Tadao Ando

***

ARCHITECTURAL FACT SHEET
Overview
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has commissioned Pritzker Prize-winner Tadao Ando to create MPavilion 10. Ando is the seventh leading international architect to have his first work in Australia commissioned by MPavilion.

Conceived as a new meeting place within Melbourne’s cultural and botanic garden precinct, Ando’s design for MPavilion encapsulates his desire to create a memorable structure that responds directly to the park setting. It strives for spatial purity, employing the geometry of circles and squares to create a space in harmony with nature.

MPavilion 10 features a large canopy, a 14.4-metre diameter aluminum-clad disc resting on a central concrete column. Two offset squares create two entrances that lead to the centre of the pavilion. Concrete walls of varying lengths partially enclose the space to create a tranquil sanctuary reminiscent of a traditional Japanese walled garden. A long (almost 17 metre x .225 metre) horizontal opening running both the length of the north and south walls frames views of downtown Melbourne and the parklands, connecting the city and lush greenery of Queen Victoria Gardens to MPavilion's interior. The geometric forms and symmetry are reinforced by an internal arrangement that is half paved, and half reflecting pool, which mirrors the pavilion canopy, sky, city, and surrounding nature. A precast concrete bench runs the full length of the southern wall, positioned for visitors to sit and look across the reflective pool and through the opening to views of the gardens and the Melbourne skyline beyond.

Ando’s design for MPavilion 10 began with a desire to create an eternally memorable structure that responds directly to the park in which the pavilion is situated. Ando strove for spatial purity, employing the geometry of circles and squares to create a gathering place that is in harmony with nature while encouraging dialogue among individuals who gather to experience the unique space.

Location
MPavilion 10 is located in the Queen Victoria Gardens in the central cultural and botanic garden precinct of Melbourne, Australia.

Numbers
Total footprint: 19.4m x 19.4m (approx. 376sqm)
Canopy area: approx. 163sqm
Canopy diameter: 14.4m
Canopy height: 3m to underside of canopy

Wall height: 2.25m
Central column: external diameter of 3.4m and 3m high
Depth of reflective pond: 200mm
 
Materials Concrete, steel, aluminium, bluestone

Team Architect: Tadao Ando, Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Osaka, Japan

Executive Architect: Sean Godsell, Sean Godsell Architects, Melbourne
Structural Engineer: AECOM (Melbourne Office)
Electrical, Fire, Hydraulic Engineer: AECOM (Melbourne Office)
Builder: Kane Constructions Pty Ltd

Consultant
Building Surveyor: Gardner Group, Melbourne