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Botanical Pavilion by Kengo Kuma Architects and Australian artist Geoff Nees.

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma @kkaa_official and Australian artist Geoff Nees @geoffnees have created a tactile, circular pavilion using timber collected from Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. Botanical Pavilion slots together like a puzzle without the need for metal supports. Kuma and Nees’s design was commissioned for the @ngvmelbourne NGV Triennial in response to Korean artist Lee Ufan’s 2017 painting named Dialogue.

Image: Philanthropy Work by McCorkell Brown Group < < click here to see more

Another amazing contribution to the Art precinct by the Philanthropic arm of Mccorkell Brown Group we’re proud to share their dedicated work.

The pavilion aims to give new life to the unused and beautiful wood from Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens’ trees. The architect and artist collected timber from fallen trees or removed from those which pre-dates to European settlement. Besides, they used it to create tessellated structures.

Kuma’s approach derives from the Japanese carpentry tradition, where you use small elements and extend on crafting joinery to enclose large spans. His concept especially enthralled to create a circular wood skin that suspends the botanical timber. The pavilion invites the visitor into a semi-circular shaped space. The journey explores the space and grants experiences with various essences of wood.

Like a tridimensional puzzle, the porous structure furthermore assembles without metal connections. Subsequently aids in reassembly. Japanese carpenters traditionally use timber of varying ages for different purposes. The Botanical Pavilion aims to raise awareness of the beauty and quality of the wood. Along with multiple uses of it throughout its life cycle.

Installation on display in NGV Triennial 2020 from 19 December 2020 – 18 April 2021 at NGV International, Melbourne.

© Kengo Kuma @kkaa_official
Geoff Nees @geoffnees
Photo: @earlcarterstudio
Constructed by @mccorkell_constructions

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