2022 Program Themes
UNDER ONE ROOF
Thursday 8 December-Tuesday 20 December
At its core, this year’s MPavilion design offers a striking canopy to house the public life of the city. But what does it mean to come together ‘Under One Roof’? In November and December, the program will explore diverse forms of shared experience and connection in our cities, from intergenerational living to artist collectives, and from community kitchens to landscapes for inter-species coexistence. This theme will also explore how a greater sense of togetherness could shape the way we engage with each other at a societal level. How can a shift in decision making, greater accountability and a reframing of ‘care’ make the world a better place?
MATERIAL LAB
Saturday 7 January- Tuesday 28 February
Material use has formed the backbone of human culture. Yet our relationship to materials also lies at the heart of the environmental and planetary impacts that define the Anthropocene. Taking inspiration from the way this year’s MPavilion design repurposes everyday and cutting-edge materials, the January and February program will transform the MPavilion into a ‘Material Lab’. How can we learn to let go of unsustainable materials? What old materials are worth revisiting? Can new thinking around material flows and circular systems reshape our cities and industries? And what leads us to glorify certain materials?
This theme explores 50 different materials that individual events will respond to. These include—air, aluminium, bamboo, bone, brass, carbon, chalk, clay, coal, coconut, concrete, copper, cork, cotton, feathers, fibreglass, funghi, glass, gold, granite, grass, hair, hemp, lithium, marble, nylon, ochre, palm, paper, pearl, plastic, polyethyhene, polysterene, resin, rope, rubber, sand, seaweed, shell, silk, silver, soil, steel, stone, straw, timber, water, wool, iron and brick—or any other material we have not listed.
UNSEEN DESIGN
Wednesday 1 March – thursday 6 APRIL
It’s often said that good design is invisible. In March, the MPavilion program will shine a light on ‘Unseen Design’ in its countless manifestations: from designing for reproductive health and ageing populations; to exploring the complex algorithms that shape our digital lives, the way subtle changes in sights and sounds around us can change our moods, or the essential services that allow our sprawling cities to function. ‘Unseen Design’ will look at the natural, the unnatural, the things that we take for granted and the inherent biases and policies that impact our everyday lives. What is visible? And what is ripe for resdesigning?