MELBOURNE.- The Naomi Milgrom Foundation today announced the commission for the fourth annual MPavilion has been awarded to internationally renowned Netherlands-based OMA and will be designed by Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten. MPavilion 2017 will be the first building designed and constructed by OMA in Australia. The announcement comes as MPavilion 2016 closed on Sunday 18 February having welcomed more than 94,000 visitors and hosted more than 487 free events over 139 days within the temporary architectural pavilion designed by acclaimed Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai.

Naomi Milgrom AO, Chair of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation who commissioned OMA to design MPavilion 2017 commented: “Rem Koolhaas is one of the world’s most provocative and influential architects. His contribution to the cultural landscape as an urban thinker together with OMA’s multi-disciplinary approach to architecture reflects MPavilion’s desire to inspire debate about the role of design in building equitable and creative cities.”

Commenting on their commission for MPavilion 2017, Rem Koolhaas, Founder and David Gianotten, Managing Partner of OMA said: “The Naomi Milgrom Foundation’s MPavilion is now a project of international significance and we look forward to contributing to the architectural legacy it has engendered. We are excited by the brief of designing a cultural heart for the city - a space of public engagement that will spark creativity and discussion, and that will act as a theatre for ideas.

MPavilion continues OMA’s history of successful cultural projects – Fondazione Prada in Milan, the Garage Museum in Moscow’s Gorky Park, Casa da Musica in Porto, the Seattle Public Library – all which have become important civic centers and independent spaces for the public.”

OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) are prolific architects, designers and theorists and was founded by visionary Rem Koolhaas, a Pritzker prize-winning architect. Together with 8 partners Koolhaas heads the work of both OMA and AMO, the research branch of OMA, operating in areas beyond the realm of architecture such as media, politics, renewable energy and fashion. David Gianotten is OMA’s Managing Partner - Architect; responsible for the management and growth of OMA worldwide and is the responsible partner-in-charge of numerous projects in Asia, Australia and Europe including the New Museum project in Perth and Rotterdam’s new Feyenoord football stadium. Together Koolhaas and Gianotten are responsible for the design and execution of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre.

OMA completed large scale projects in recent years include the Qatar Foundation Headquarters in Doha; Faena District in Miami; London’s Design Museum; Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow; Fondazione Prada in Milan; Shenzhen Stock Exchange; De Rotterdam; and CCTV Headquarters in Beijing.

Continuing its strong collaborative approach, MPavilion 2016 worked with more than 350 collaborators including cultural institutions, architects, artists, musicians, dancers, choreographers, scientists and designers to develop the four-month free cultural program and contributed to numerous festivals and public events including the Melbourne Festival, Confluence: Festival of India, Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts (Asia TOPA), Melbourne Music Week, White Night and the India Leadership Summit.

MPavilion 2016 presented: 63 talks and public lectures; 39 music performances; 60 gatherings and public workshops; 53 educational events focused on design and architecture and 31 children’s events. Events were spread across a number of themes including handmade architecture, creative cities, citizen science and collaboration. In summary:

• Attended by 94,000 visitors


• Presented 487 free events with 350 collaborator organisations

• 30 international guests including Bijoy Jain, Aneesh Pradham, Chris Sanderson, Danh Vo, Julia Kagansky, SHOWStudio, Aric Chen, Chiharu Shiota, Christian Thompson, Sir David Adjaye OBE and Jan Gehl.

MPavilion is Australia’s leading architecture commission and design event made possible through the vision of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation — and Australian philanthropist Naomi Milgrom AO. MPavilion is a philanthropic success story that has seen government, business and private sectors collaborate to bring an important new civic space to Melbourne with a strong public, industry and educational component.