The Lightcatcher MPavilion opens

The first MPavilion to be erected in Queen Victoria Gardens since the onset of the pandemic opened on 2 December.

Designed by Francesco Magnani and Traudy Pelzel of Venice practice Map Studio, the installation dubbed “The Lightcatcher” is less a shelter and more of an “urban lighthouse,” featuring angled mirrored panels that reflect the surrounding garden.

The mirrored kaleidoscopic cube sits on an open steel structure supported by four U-shaped concrete columns.

“In our minds, the kaleidoscope structure takes on a double meaning of an urban lighthouse to gather people around as an expression of new hope and to glitter our minds into appreciating new horizons,” said architect Traudy Pelzel. “But it’s also a kind of warning. It is not a shelter in nature as the previous pavilions were, but an element of amplification of human activities in nature as a metaphor of man’s current condition – inspiring an aspect of new awareness of this fragile situation.”

The opening of the pavilion marks a significant milestone for Melbourne’s cultural life, though the architects have not yet been able to visit to the city.

Naomi Milgrom, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, who commissions the MPavilions, said, “Delivering The Lightcatcher under such challenging global circumstances is a testament to both the remarkable minds behind the design and the teams who realized its construction. Their inspirational MPavilion is poised to re-invigorate our city as it plays host for the summer to the energy and ideas of hundreds of designers, architects and performances that will create, work and play underneath.”

This year’s MPavilion program includes more than 400 in-person events, kicking off with a weekend of music as the Melbourne Music Week takes over the pavilion for three days of programmed events.

Highlights of the program include the Blakitecture series of Indigenous design forums and the inaugural Melbourne flight of Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhalepapa.