Ponder this: 2021 NGV Architecture Commission opens

A pink pond installation designed by Taylor Knights and James Carey has opened in the garden of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Pond[er], the winning design for the 2021 NGV Architecture Commission, comprises a rectilinear shallow pond surrounded by a garden bed of wildflowers that will bloom at different times during the installation.

The design references the original open-air courtyards in Roy Grounds’s design for the NGV International building.

The installation highlights the rare beauty of Australia’s natural ecology, as well as the scarcity of natural resources. The colour of the pond references Victoria’s inland salt lakes while the garden of Indigenous wildflowers draws attention to the precariousness and temporality of our native flora.

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Pond[er] by Taylor Knights and James Carey.

Image: Eugene Hyland

“Through an elegant interplay of architectural and landscape elements, this work draws our attention to the challenges facing Australia’s many catchments and river systems, whilst also ensuring that the design itself has minimal environmental impact by considering the future lifecycle of the materials used,” said NGV director Tony Ellwood.

A series of gentle ramps and accessible platforms allow visitors to move through the installation and also wade in the water of the pink pond.

The installation has been made with locally sourced materials that are also intended to be distributed and used again by various Landcare, Indigenous and community groups, including the Willam Warrain Aboriginal Association.

Pond[er] will be on display from 6 December 2021 until 28 August 2022.