The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced Bangkok-based practice All Zone has been commissioned to design the 2022 MPavilion.
All Zone is known for its innovative approaches to architecture, particularly in reusing and recycling local materials.
Its notable projects include Thailand’s first contemporary art museum, MAIIAM, in Chiang Mai, completed in 2016, as well as its various installations and exhibitions, such as the “Set the Controls to the Heart of the Sun” installation for the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, and the Marmalade Sky inhalation for Wonderfruit Festival in Thailand.
Its work has also been featured in international exhibitions including New York’s Guggenheim Museum, the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2015, the Vitra Design Museum 2017, Triennale di Milano 2018 and Echigo-Tsumori Triennale 2018.
Lighthouse The Art of Living Lightly for Chicago Architecture Biennial 2015.
Image: Courtesy All Zone
All Zone design director Rachaporn Choochuey studied at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and Columbia University in New York and the University of Tokyo. She has also been appointed Louis I. Kahn Assistant Visiting Professor of Fall’22 at Yale University.
“We [don’t take] the most conventional approach to doing architecture,” Choochuey told ArchitectureAU. “It’s mixed of experiments, sustainability, [being] hands-on and sometimes with an entrepreneurial spirit.
“Small commissions, temporary architecture or even exhibitions are our exercise in experimenting with an idea we have in the moment, and it means we can do a lot of trial and error.
“We are very interested to see how we can build lighter and lighter. I’m questioning the rigidity of architecture and the typology that would allow us to change or modify what we could do with the structure that we have. Where’s the limit?”
Choochuey presented at the Naomi Milgrom Foundation’s 2019 Living Cities Forum.
“Rachaporn’s architectural approach to ‘the art of living lightly’ and creating spaces with people and the environment at the heart of her practice demonstrates how architecture and design can contribute to creating sustainable, equitable cities,” said Naomi Milgrom, who commissioned All Zone for the MPavilion a year after the presentation.
The 2022 MPavilion will be installed in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens from 17 November.
It coincides wit the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Australia-Thailand diplomatic relations. Thai ambassador to Australia Busadee Santipitaks said, “The Royal Thai Embassy will work closely with MPavilion and the Thai community to promote the spirit of creativity and active engagement as part of our 70th anniversary celebrations.”
