Rem Koolhaas and David Gionotten of OMA have been chosen to design the annually commissioned 2017 MPavilion in Melbourne.
The project will be the Dutch firm’s first completed project in Australia, located in Queen Victoria Gardens.
In a video announcement, managing partner Gianotten said the project has been in the works for the past three years.
OMA’s pavilion will be the fourth edition of the pavilion project sponsored by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
“We’ve always looked at pavilions as key moments in the development of the office because in pavilions you can test things you cannot do in real buildings,” says Rem Koolhaas.
Although design details are yet to be disclosed, Koolhaas said he is interested in exploring the contrast between “vast territories of the world”.
“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,” Koolhaas and Gianotten said.
“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 will open to the public on 3 October 2017, hosting a year-long series of cultural events.
“Rem Koolhaas is one of the world’s most provocative and influential architects,” said Milgrom.
“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.”
The OMA-designed pavilion will be the last of the four pavilions funded by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
OMA is also set to inaugurate its first building in the UAE, Concrete, in March– a multi-disciplinary event space designed to host large-scale art exhibitions, symposia and conferences, fashion, film, and corporate events.
Recently, images of OMA’s Qatar National Library were unveiled on Instagram, ahead of completion. Images of the Dutch firm’s nearby Qatar Foundation Headquarters have also been revealed by New York City-based photographer Yueqi Li.