NGV C Competition

The Open Weave proposal was a finalist in the NGV Contemporary Design Competition.  Our proposal presented a vision for a 21st century museum that is active and collaborative, its public diverse and multi-valent, and that embodies the values of a new kind of institution defined by ideas of inclusion, fluidity, and transparency. The teams proposal translates into a building that may not only be known as an object that contains contemporary art but also as a relevant setting for contemporary art through its extension of layered experiences and relationships with the landscape, the city and its curation.

Shaped by a response to the themes of place, relationship, repair, experience and openness. In step with contemporary art, notions of icon or landmark are re-imagined through action and experience as well as visual identity.

This thinking emerged from our imagining of architecture’s possible role in connection to Country, a natural ecosystem, and its urban environment.

The design turns a container inside out, extending the public realm into NGV Contemporary and bringing nature, art, design, performance, and hospitality to the edges of the built form. In this way unique curatorial and experiential opportunities are created, which overlap and connect civic and cultural life.

Open Weave was a collective that was assembled for the purpose of the NGV Contemporary Design Competition.

Project team:  Grimshaw, Baracco + Wright , Winwood McKenzie, McGregor Coxall Australia, Foolscap, Relative Projects, 20-20 Studio, Flux Consultants, AECOM, Eckersley O’Callaghan, 2×4 Inc, and Paul Memmott.