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Projects: public

Pavilion Capital at NGV

An upcycle initiative about inverting pyramids to foster and embody human, social and environmental capital.

This project is a generator for a longer term strategy. It acknowledges the limited lifespan of the proposed NGV Pavilion and it includes a strategy for upcycling the materials again once the pavilion is no longer required.

Unlike slave labour used in building the Egyptian pyramids, these inverted pyramids celebrate the empowering progress of human capital and motivation.

01 Approach: Creative employment and upskilling opportunities will be initiated for unemployed youths seeking improved and integrated services, facilities and opportunities. We propose that 20 youths will be given a fair go and employed by a government pre-employment participation program for a period of several months.

02 Finding: The team will find and collect an estimated 250 metal security screen doors, rescued from the ruins of houses demolished across Victoria. These will be sourced from salvage yards, tip shops and on-line sellers.

03 NGV: The pavilion is proposed to be placed on axis with the bluestone paving in the National Gallery of Victoria Grollo Equiset Garden. A bricolage of readymade metal screen doors will be assembled into columns extending into a honeycomb network sized to accommodate 100 people. The structure will stand on 6 columns and surround a central, open space, approximately 6 metres diameter and 5 metres high.

04 Making: Low barrier initiatives will be developed to assist the youths to layout and construct the pavilion on site. As the structure increases in height, the complexity of the task will increase too. Training will include the necessary permits to operate and perform the temporary construction works.

05 The Space: The pavilion will be suitable to host workshops, events and social gatherings during the summer day and night. During exhibition mode, the pavilion space may evolve with its activities. For instance, workshops may be hosted to upcycle plastic bottle caps to create shade curtains. The crafted accessories may be added and draped from the pavilion frame.

06 De-Install: At the end of the Pavilion’s life, the salvaged materials will be catalogued, dismantled, relocated and removed from site in readiness for their next upcycling phase.

07 Re-Making: Still employed by the pre-employment participation program, youths will have the opportunity to creatively increase their capacity by learning craft based metalwork and Do-It-Yourself skills. This will include designing & making the pavilion remains to create other projects to service local communities. For instance, commuter bicycle shelters, animal shelters for boarding houses, privacy screens and fences.

This project creates:
- Experience and relationships to develop social capital; &
- Multi-lifespan upcycling opportunities to develop environmental capital.