The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced that MPavilion 2019 by Glenn Murcutt closed on Wednesday 18 March, 4 days earlier than expected.

“The Pritzker Prize practitioner designed a characteristically thoughtful, climate-responsive MPavilion for the program’s longest-running season, hosting 250+ free events, and 149,300+ visitors over 126 days,” according to a statement.

Running from 14 November to 18 March, the MPavilion 2019 season, created 52 new podcast recordings featuring Glenn Murcutt, Green Magazine, Blakitecture, AsiaTOPA, Eugenia Lim, the Archibald Prize, the Louvre Museum, Indigenous Astronomy and many more.

Some highlights included; presenting 250+ free events, including 100+ talks and public lectures, 28 music performances, 37 design meetings and gatherings, 29 workshops, 36 kids events, 42 health and wellbeing events, and 7 projects and installations.

The program themes ‘Australian Design: Identity & Cultural Collaboration’, ‘Earth: A Place of Reconciliation, A Reconciliation of Place’, and ‘Knowledge: Shared Learning, Shared Power’ were explored with international guests.

Celebrating ‘Australian Design’ and Glenn Murcutt’s 50th year in practice, the foundation commissioned the MP19 Stacking Stool by Chris Connell, uniforms by Beci Orpin and The Social Studio, an Artist-in-Residency with Eugenia Lim and a living installation from Hattie x Honey Fingers.

Futhermore, the foundation additionally commissioned What is Home — a one-week symposium on cooperative housing and a collaboration with the Royal College of Art, London lead Dr Tarsha Finney and local housing experts Kerstin Thompson, Dr. Alysia Bennett, Andy Fergus and Katherine Sundermann, including offsite visits to Nightingale 2, Beverley Hills and Housing Choices Australia Ebsworth House.

MPavilion also produced a special MRelay on the Climate Crisis inviting local speakers Neil Morris, Jiri Lev, Jade Sarita Arnottand Charity Edwards among others.

Other events on sustainability and environmentalism took place in partnership with the National Sustainability Festival, Climate Emergency Cinema, Green Magazine, and CERES.

MPavilion’s third annual BLAKitecture series — co-curated by Sarah Lynn Rees and Jack Mitchell, brought together Indigenous voices to share conversations about architecture and the future of built environments. Guests included Louis Anderson Mokak, Maddison Miller, Jeremy McLeodand Libby Porter.

MPavilion is supported by major partners City of Melbourne, the Victorian State Government through Creative Victoria and Development Victoria, ANZ and RACV, and has received over 630,000 visitors since its inception in 2014.

MPavilion’s 2020 architect will be announced later in the year.

Sarah Buckley

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