Australian High Commission welcomes Bijoy Jain's MPavilion commission

Acting Australian High Commissioner Chris Elstoft today congratulated Indian architect Bijoy Jain for winning the commission by Australia's Naomi Milgrom Foundation to design the third edition of MPavilion.

An annual design event for Melbourne, MPavilion is a unique architecture commission for the historic Queen Victoria Gardens to house talks, workshops, performances and installations from 5 October 2016 until 5 February 2017.

"Bijoy Jain is a fascinating architect, whose designs are known to explore the relationship between landscape and architecture. Bijoy's aesthetic of embracing the natural environment, traditional Indian skills, local techniques and materials, resonates with Australians' love of nature and landscape," Mr. Elstoft said.

Bijoy Jain becomes the third architect to design an MPavilion, following in the footsteps of British architect Amanda Levete (2015) and Australian architect Sean Godsell (2014 inaugural pavilion).

Bijoy Jain, founder and principal of Studio Mumbai, said he was honoured to be commissioned to design the next MPavilion in Melbourne.

"I want it to be a symbol of the elemental nature of communal structures. I see MPavilion as a place of engagement: a space to discover the essentials of the world- and of oneself," Mr Jain said.

MPavilion is a private-public project funded by the City of Melbourne, the Victorian government and the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. The Naomi Milgrom Foundation was initiated by Australian philanthropist Naomi Milgrom AO to support great design and architecture projects to enrich Australia's cultural life.