M@STUDIO architects' hyperreal pavilion wins 2016 NGV commission

the national gallery of victoria (NGV) in melbourne, australia, has unveiled its 2016 architecture commission from winning entrant M@STUDIO architects. taking the form of a neon-pink, hyperreal car wash, the pavilion celebrates how commercial buildings define the lived experience and visual culture of suburbia. the design takes its dimensions directly from an existing car wash in blackburn, melbourne — transplanting an everyday structure into the unfamiliar surroundings of an art gallery. 

(above and main) image © peter bennetts

as NGV senior curator of contemporary design and architecture ewan mceoin explains, ‘the concept of the pavilion is the result of the union of two longstanding research interests of the royal melbourne institute of technology school of architecture and design: the first, referred to as ‘suburban realism’, examines new civic models of expression in melbourne’s future outer suburbs; and the second is an exploration of architectural illusions, or what RMITresearchers term ‘uncertain conditions’ and ‘dematerialisation’. the commission uproots a familiar building and, by remodelling and recreating it, helps us see the structure’s economic design imperative in a new way’.

image © peter bennetts

ewan mceoin elaborates by stating that in suburbs, public services are managed via a retail model in which supermarkets, car washes, petrol stations and fast food outlets have become central suburban features. this quickly translates into a robotic and generic economic lifestyle with standardized tilings, signages and architectural patterns. therefore, through the instalallation, M@STUDIO architects questions the value and role of this commercialized suburban landscape and offers alternative potentials and uses — especially for social and cultural growth. but even more, the pavilion challenges society to shift focus from the urban centre, its excessive expansion and gridded architecture, and to start exploring the peripheries where suburbia grows.  

image © peter bennetts

‘M@ STUDIO architects’ hyperreal, hypercolored slice of suburbia reminds us that anything can be considered beautiful, depending on who is looking. australian artists howard arkley and jeffrey smart both discovered unique ways to elevate the patterns, colour and forms of mundane australian suburbia to levels of unquestionable beauty in their work’, continues ewan mceoin.

 
image © peter bennetts

furthermore, mceoin explains how the architects have created the pavilion based on the suburban retail model: petrol, fast-food and cars. first, the pavilion is installed and scaled relative to the size of a car, with flashing colors and generic signages (i.e arrows). this direct critique of our post-modern and consumerist lifestyle ‘questions why suburbia is not better appreciated and whether we are comfortable with the idea that a car wash or fast food chain is now the suburban destination of choice’.  

transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, the structure has a lightweight steel body with porous walls made of layered cricket netting and five neon pink astro-turf car lanes, complete with rubberised waves and road markings, topped with a mirrored ‘car wash’ sign.

image © peter bennetts

image © peter bennetts

image © peter bennetts 

image © peter bennetts 

image © peter bennetts

image © peter bennetts

 
image © peter bennetts 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom