MPavilion (24 01 24)

MPavilion 10: Tadao Ando

MPavilion 10: Tadao Ando

mpavilion 10
tadao ando

mpavilion 10
tadao ando

In 2023, MPavilion welcomes influential Pritzker Prize Laureate Tadao Ando as our esteemed designer for MPavilion 10. One of Japan’s leading contemporary architects, Tadao Ando is a master of light known for his striking geometric interventions in nature. 

about 
the commission

MPavilion 2023 designed by Tadao Ando, photo by Rory Gardiner
MPavilion 10. Image by Rory Gardiner

Over the past decade, MPavilion has worked with the world’s most significant architectural thinkers to create a space for engagement with urgent urban, civic, and design concerns. Tadao Ando is the seventh leading international architect to have his first work in Australia commissioned by MPavilion, the country’s foremost annual architecture commission and design festival. 

“Each year, MPavilion commissions architects with a unique design language and social purpose and gives them complete freedom to realize their vision. I have long admired how Tadao Ando responds to and incorporates the particularity of a place into his design and his belief that architecture can shape a society,” said Naomi Milgrom AC. “As the MPavilion prepares for the tenth edition, we look forward to sharing Ando’s work in Australia for the very first time and having his MPavilion become a vital site in the cultural and community life of Melbourne.”

When asked about the brief, Tadao Ando commented:

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

Discover the design

about 
tadao ando

MPavilion 2023 architect Tadao Ando

One of Japan’s leading contemporary architects, Tadao Ando is a master of light known for his striking geometric interventions in nature. 

Born in 1941 in Osaka, Japan, Tadao Ando is a self-taught architect and established Tadao Ando Architect & Associates in 1969. Throughout his career, Ando has received many awards and accolades including the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, the 8th Praemium Imperiale in 1996, and the 2002 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal.

Among his many notable works are the Church of the Light (1989; Osaka, Japan), Pulitzer Arts Foundation (2001; St. Louis, USA), Chichu Art Museum (2004; Naoshima, Japan), 21-21 Design Sight (2007; Tokyo, Japan), and Bourse de Commerce—Pinault Collection (2020: Paris, France).

Ando also has an extensive career in architecture education. He taught as a visiting professor at Yale University, Columbia University, and Harvard University, and in 1997 became a Professor at the University of Tokyo.

previous
projects

Church of the Light. Photos by Mitsuo Matsuoka. Courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
Courtesy Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection. © Tadao Ando Architect & Associates. NeM / Niney et Marca Architectes, Agence Pierre-Antoine Gatier. Photo by Patrick Tourneboeuf
Pulitzer Arts Foundation. Photo by Mitsuo Matsuoka. Courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
Pulitzer Arts Foundation. Photo by Mitsuo Matsuoka. Courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
Chichu Art Museum / Naoshima. Photo by Tadao Ando. Courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
Chichu Art Museum / Naoshima. Photo by Mitsuo Matsuoka. Courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates

Wominjeka (Welcome). We acknowledge the people of the Eastern Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which MPavilion stands. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present – and recognise they have been creating, telling stories and caring for Country for thousands of generations.

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