Naomi Milgrom AC, Founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation and Professor Alec Cameron, Vice-Chancellor and President, RMIT University have today jointly announced that MPavilion 2022 designed by Rachaporn Choochuey of all(zone), Thailand has been gifted to RMIT University and will be relocated to its new home at RMIT’s Brunswick campus.

Experimenting with materials and forms being used for the first time in Australia, all(zone), a female-led architecture studio based in Bangkok, Thailand, worked closely with Melbourne based Zilka Studio, TENSYS and AECOM to realise MPavilion 2022. MPavilion 2022 at Queen Victoria Gardens saw 352 free events 8 December 2022 to 8 April 2023 involving over 600 collaborators and attracting over 350,000 visitors.

The pavilion is an innovative three-layered marquee that explores the potential of tensile architecture. The uppermost layer is a brightly coloured fishing net, giving the structure a tactile quality. The middle layer is crafted from an STFE membrane, as transparent as glass but 10 times lighter, this weather-proof polyarylate mesh was used for the first time in Australia. The lowermost layer comprises a waffle of colourful fabric that moves with the breeze and creates dappled light, evoking the feeling of resting under trees. Despite MPavilion 2022’s lightness and ephemeral quality, it has been ingeniously engineered for longevity.

MPavilion 2022 has so far received eight Australian and international awards and commendations, including Winner in Architectural Design – Cultural, BLT Built Design Awards 2023, Gold, Architectural Design & Social Impact, Good Design Awards 2023, Jury Winner, Architecture + Colour, Architizer A+ Awards 2023, and is shortlisted in the Best Use of Colour and Completed Buildings – Culture, at the prestigious World Architecture Festival Awards for November 2023.

“We are delighted that all(zone)’s MPavilion will be relocated to RMIT’s Brunswick campus, a campus focused on a range of design disciplines. We hope that the pavilion’s innovative design will inspire students and visitors alike at its new permanent home. This is the seventh MPavilion gift to Victoria, and comes as we mark a decade of architectural commissions by the Foundation with the opening of MPavilion 10 at the Queen Victoria Gardens on 16 November,” said Naomi Milgrom AC.

The pavilion’s new home at RMIT will be strategically positioned as the heart of the central courtyard on its Brunswick campus, drawing visitors in from the street.

MPavilion RMIT will officially open in Semester 1 2024.