An Icon Reimagined: ‘Temple of Boom’ Architecture Commission Unveiled at NGV International.

Photo by Sean Fennessy.

Photo by Sean Fennessy.

Photo by Sean Fennessy.

Photo by Sean Fennessy.

Photo by Sean Fennessy.

Temple of Boom is the NGV Architecture Commission for 2022, an annual series that invites Australian architects to create a work of site-specific, ephemeral architecture for the NGV Garden. This year’s project is an evocative reimagining of the global architectural icon, The Parthenon.

Designed by Melbourne-based architects Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang of NWMN, Temple of Boom invites audiences to consider the effect of time on all architecture as the structure gradually transforms with artworks and murals, painted in three phases between November 2022 and August 2023.

Ranging from vibrantly coloured floral motifs to optical illusions, the artworks draw inspiration from the colourful and artistic embellishments that covered the original building over two-thousand years ago. The first round of participating artists includes Drez, Manda Lane and David Lee Pereira.

Drez is a multidisciplinary artist based in Melbourne who uses colour and form to play with perspective. Drawing inspiration from art historical perspectives, including the Greenbergian Modernism and Op-Art schools, Drez’s work creates an intersection between abstract art and street art. For this installation, Drez will create a boldly colourful mural that changes composition when viewed from different angles.

BoardGrove Architects’ Outdoor Pavilions for NGV’s Summer Dining Program.

Inspired by simple structures associated with camping along riverbeds in the Australian bush, BoardGrove Architects’ pavilions were designed and constructed in a short 7-week time frame after the city was emerging from the COVID lockdown.

Manda Lane is a muralist, illustrator and paper-based artist from Collingwood, Victoria. With a keen focus on botanicals, her art explores the interactions between the natural world and industrial or man-made objects. In this mural installation, Lane will depict various growth behaviours of plants, creating a visual metaphor for personal expression and growth.

David Lee Pereira is a visual artist whose works explore the fluidity of gender, sexuality and identity. Influenced by the work of impressionist and surrealist artists Georgia O’Keefe, Salvador Dali and Edvard Munch, Pereira will adorn the structure with large-than-life floral motifs that draw attention to nature’s flamboyant use of scent and colour to allure pollinators.

“By inviting local artists to cover this modern interpretation of The Parthenon in contemporary art, Temple of Boom overlays this ancient structure with new connections to time and place — especially here in Melbourne,” explains Tony Ellwood AM, director of the NGV. “This thought-provoking work by Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang invites us to consider the legacy of architectural symbols like The Parthenon, as well as how this meaning can shift across time periods and cultures.”

Taking its name from the vibrations of music, the project is envisioned as a community meeting place and an outdoor venue for a diverse program of NGV-curated performances, programs and music across the summer period. For more information click here.

Public Spaces That Pop.

Loud, subtle, permanent, ephemeral, awe-inspiring and quietly confident, we’ve gathered some of our favourite Public Spaces that Pop.

[Images courtesy of NGV. Photography by Sean Fennessy & Eugene Hyland.]