For our 2019 NGV architecture commission proposal, we looked to the lost stories and spaces of the National Gallery of Victoria. Complementing the Grollo Equiset garden’s open setting, we recreated the volume of Roy Ground’s original bamboo court that was lost with the additions and alterations over the years.

Playing with physical and visual boundaries, a large porous bamboo framework becomes the pavilion, an outdoor theatre and a series of connected paths that meander around the garden. The structure weaves and transforms playfully around the garden’s current resident sculptures, making them part of the experience.

Designed as a framework, it also becomes a canvas that can be used in a multitude of ways. It is sensitive to the existing elements of the garden, at the same time letting visitors engage with them in new ways. This is a proposal to transform NGV’s ‘backyard’ into a fun-filled and celebratory one.