17 February 2024

This years M Pavilion, by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. I like it a lot. A few simple ideas, but quite delightful, intriguing, and achieves a sense of quiet emptiness (just saw that Ando described it as ‘an architecture of emptiness’, so he achieved exactly that!). Unlike other M pavilions, it’s quite enclosed from outside, except for unfeasibly long slots in the two long walls. Then inside there a veeery wide circular roof, and half the floor area is actually water. Would have been contemplative except for all the people and chatter. Subtle water jets create ripples reflected on the ceiling.

Im told this is the last MPavilion, and it might stay, though it would need sturdy gates in that case. I’m not a huge fan of Ando’s work, but he is a master of minimalism, using very finely crafted plain concrete, a long way from old school Brutalism. He’s 82, and best known for a chapel in Osaka from 1999, last image.

I also liked that the pavilion was paved in bluestone, in random shaped blocks, adding a bit of detail and texture and local reference (even though bluestone mostly comes from China these days !). Aerial photo not mine.

18 June 2025

So last night the Councillors of the @cityofmelbourne voted not to demolish the last MPavilion, designed by Tadao Ando, in the gardens opposite the NGVI. And it is really quite a beautiful piece of architecture; severe concrete walls enclosing a calm space that’s half reflecting pool, with a huge circular roof floating above. I can see why they had issues though, it needs 24hr security to avoid bad behaviour out of sight, and to scare off the taggers, and the pool will need maintenance – but Naomi Milgrom, who was behind and partly funded the 10 pavilions over the last decade, is going to pay for all that for 5 years at least, as well as programming events. There was also a campaign to retain it (eg @preservethepavilion), a petition of 2500 names, and many expressions of support including from Ando himself. It’s nice to think I can go any time and just sit in there (if there’s a spare seat). I do wonder if many outside the architecture and design professions care about it that much, but perhaps they do !

Lots of comments, mostly supportive.

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