MPavilion

MRelay 2016 jumped out of the blocks with the theme 'Cultivate'. We looked at the city as a place to nurture and, in turn, asked the question: how do we create a civic space that nurtures its inhabitants? Can we as citizens be both productive (and products of) a city? How do we take responsibility for moulding its environmental and cultural fabric? This session explored the power of collective con...

This event explored the concept of nothingness in scientific inquiry, sustainability, literature and cultures that express that they ‘do nothing’. Was it vague? There was nothing to worry about. This symposium brought together leading academics, thinkers and experimental artists to delve and dive, to poke and prod and explain to you, the very idea of nothingness. On the night, international law sc...

A leafy park, a noisy building site, a room with a view (or without) – for better or worse, the physical spaces we inhabit have a biological and psychological effect on us. Following January's 'Vital (De)signs: Sensing space through VR', we brought together a range of voices that discussed and debated the impact of the built environment on our health and wellbeing – and the game-changing potential...

In 2014 the State Government delivered its blueprint for Southbank’s Arts Precinct. The primary recommendations were driven by an urban design vision addressing the impermeable nature of the site and its disconnection from other parts of the city. Southbank is one of Melbourne’s densest residential neighbourhoods yet the lack of connection between the residents and the iconic cultural facilities r...

Revisit Parlour at MPavilion to celebrate the launch of Marion’s List, a new public register for the women of Australian architecture. Marion’s List is created as a resource for those looking for expert commentary or input, and for those wanting to be involved in the people of architecture’s public culture—things like talks, panels, juries, teaching and much more! With Marion’s List, Parlour hopes...

Despite the fact that the built environment affects all of us daily, directing our movements and shaping how we live, it remains determined by a male-dominated property industry. This panel focused on representation of women across all fields of decision-making in the built environment from policy to design, and looks at ways to support, promote and increase gender equality across the industry. Li...

Many young people in northern India argue that to survive in the subcontinent today you need jugaad. This is a Hindi word which means “a hack”—the shrewd use of available resources to find an ingenious solution. The classic Indian image of jugaad is a wooden ox cart that has been fitted with a modern engine, but it can describe everything from a form of housing to a way of acting in a government o...

In an era of ‘planetary urbanisation’ the making and moving of urban cultures becomes a global process, but also one firmly embedded in place. Creating the 21st century city requires new ways to understand culture, place and sustainability at a time defined by dynamic flows of people and ideas. Taking cues from Bijoy Jain’s MPavilion 2016, this MTalks panel featured the shining lights of Australia...

For this, the first (not a) book club, i-D AU/NZ's Wendy Syfret was joined by Penny Modra of The Good Copy to look at the twelve-part episodic podcast series ‘Charles Manson’s Hollywood’ from the podcast ‘You Must Remember This’. The twelve-part series of podcast episodes “…explore the murders committed in the summer of 1969 by followers of Charles Manson, and the Hollywood music and movie scene s...

The rise of fascism and the resulting European diaspora of the inter-war and post-war periods brought émigré and refugee modernists to live in Australia. Some were practitioners of Bauhaus from the German school of the same name often cited as the most influential modernist movement of the 20th century. Figures such as Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, Inge King, Gerhard Herbst, Ernest Fooks, Fredrick Stern...

Visiting Melbourne as part of the Bauhaus in Australia launch, Penelope Seidler met with Dr Ann Stephen and Philip Goad for this special in conversation MTalk at MPavilion. With an illustrious career as an architect and a life devoted to the arts, Penelope spoke about architecture then and now, as well as her life with her professional partner and husband, famed leader in Australian modernism and...

Revisit this MTalk with Glenn Murcutt, Australia’s best-known architect internationally, in conversation with MPavilion 2014 architect Sean Godsell chatting about Glenn’s enduring and award-winning career as an architect. Glenn’s illustrious career has seen him awarded the honour Order of Australia (AO) in 1996 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize for 2002—often referred to as the ‘Nobel Prize of A...

With a growing urban design movement focussed on creating liveable streets, the benefits of walking as a catalyst for sustainable, healthy, prosperous and attractive cities is gaining attention. From seventy years of practice, Arup recognises that a walkable city is a better city, and that the more we all walk, the better the city is. This knowledge, underpinned by hearty amounts of research, has...

The Mahābhārata is South Asia’s most important literary text. A long narrative of epic struggle between two sets of parallel cousins, it tells of the transformation of social, religious and cultural mores in ancient Indian society between 200BCE and 200CE. It was once known at all levels of society and has continued to be read, heard and performed up until the present day. Hear back from La Trobe...

Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) in association with Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art (IMA) and Curatorial Practice at Monash Art Design and Architecture (MADA) were pleased to present a special lecture at MPavilion by visiting international curator and writer, Tirdad Zolghadr. Tirdad Zolghadr is a curator and writer. He is the associate curator at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin...

In 1914 the Griffins, minted from the firmament of the Prairie School, were newly arrived in Australia and ready to test their ideas in that rarest of all architectural laboratories, a grand urban design scheme for a new and entirely planned city. But their lofty ideals were to dissipate rapidly: their design for Canberra, which won the 1911 international competition, would meet vicious opposition...

Get up close to the mechanics of centuries-old instruments with an informal hour-long chat as the Australian String Quartet presented its new series 'Close Quarters'—a concept dedicated to playing in intimate and unique settings. Enjoy a diverse and lively conversation as Australia’s pre-eminent string quartet threw aside traditional conventions to present some of its favourite music over a tipple...

Liquid Architecture and MPavilion presented French sound poet and conceptualist Anne-James Chaton’s Testimonies, a new performance that extends his long-term interest in linguistic experimentation, phonetic rhythms, loops, repetitions and reverberations into new relational and conversational territories focused on world events. Drawing textual material out of one-on-one encounters with visitors to...

Vietnamese-born Danish artist Danh Vō joined us for a special conversation with Geelong Gallery director Jason Smith, for this MTalk. Danh Vō’s early life was defined by upheaval: Danh and his family fled their native South Vietnam, launching seaward in a homemade boat to be rescued at sea by a Danish freighter and re-settled in Denmark. Danh’s art is often attributed to these early events and the...

In the spirit of experimental activations of public space and the arrival of Public Art Melbourne’s inaugural Biennial Lab at the Queen Victoria Markets, listen to this MTalks event at MPavilion. Here you will discover what makes the Biennial Lab so intriguing. Join eminent curators in the public sphere, Khairuddin Hori and Natalie King, and Biennial Lab artist, Timothy Moore of SIBLING as they di...

Australian dancer and choreographer Atlanta Eke brought us 'Wetware', a performance concerned with time travel. The work, a response to the RMIT Design Hub’s Occupied exhibition and further developed for MPavilion, imagined that architects from 2050 had travelled back in time via the digital universe to share a dystopian tale from a near future; a drowned world where land-based life has returned t...

Listen to Parlour's convivial afternoon of conversation and connection over a glass of wine. Casual and welcoming, their spring salon was the first of Parlour’s seasonal salons—supported by Parlour partner AWS—that gave an opportunity for the women of Melbourne architecture to meet, form new networks and relationships. Emerging or established, all are always encouraged to join in at MPavilion. Thi...

Sonia Leber and David Chesworth are two artists who have been collaborating since 1996 in the creation of a series of large-scale installation artworks, using sound, video, architecture and public participation. These works often utilise the human voice as a principal element along with real world situations as a starting point. These situations include the old The Age newspaper building on Melbou...

We all know Melbourne is big on art. And you can’t miss the fact—it’s team-coloured beanies, flags and scarves all—that Melbourne is big on sport. This special MTalks event explored Melbourne’s unique love of both, and even, the less-obvious connection between sport and art. Hear from MPavilion’s 2016 architect Bijoy Jain along with Robyn Archer as host and a bunch of people including Gideon Obarz...

What processes take place within the studio to realise works of architecture? Gain an insight into the collaborative nature of architectural design, and the studio culture of some of Melbourne’s most exciting emerging practices. Listen to this #MTalk to hear the emerging architects and graduates of Melbourne for a panel-discussion on collaboration and studio culture within architectural practice....