Giant balloon wins 2023 NGV Architecture Commission

A team comprising Perth-based architect Nic Brunsdon in collaboration with art and technology studio Eness has won an invited design competition for the National Gallery of Victoria's 2023 Architecture Commission.

The proposal, (This is) Air, calls for a 14-metre-tall inflatable sphere to be installed in the rear garden of the gallery. The dynamic structure will expand and contract throughout the day.

"The idea for this project was conceived by the architect during the global pandemic, when the air we breathed was suddenly at the forefront of everyone's mind," said Ewan McEoin, NGV senior curator of contemporary art, design and architecture. "Taking the form of a giant inflatable sphere, this living structure inhales and exhales before our eyes, giving presence to that omnipresent yet invisible element that connects us all."

The installation will periodically deflate in a gust that produces a cloud-like array, then reinflate. Air is therefore seen, heard and felt, inviting audiences to consider the element's life-giving nature.

The 2023 NGV Architecture Commission will be a part of the NGV Triennial exhibition, which will be called Magic, Matter and Memory. Ten design teams were invited to submit concepts that responded to this theme.

The winning design responds to Matter and draws together concepts of biology, geology and physics while also prompting audiences to consider humanity's reliance on natural systems.

"Air can be understood as part of our global economic, social and ecological realities. And yet, the quality of air we breathe varies depend[s] on where and how we live. Air is universal, yet clean air is not," McEoin said.

The 10 invited competitors were: Five Mile Radius and Julia Watson (Qld); GFA2, Supercontext and Dean Cross (NSW); Nic Brunsdon with Eness (WA); Office Mi-Ji (Vic); Office of Culture, Technology and Architecture (Vic); Spressor and Peter Besley (NSW); Studiobird / Simona (Vic); Supermanoeuvre (NSW/ACT); Taylor and Hinds with Dr Lois Peeler AM (Tas); and Youssofzay Hart with Zena Cumpston (NSW).

"The annual NGV Architecture Commission offers a platform for Australian designers and architects to realize an ambitious new work of ephemeral architecture that pushes their practice into new and surprising frontiers," said NGV director Tony Ellwood. "Since its inception in 2016, these imaginative structures have created a place for the community to come together, and many of these commissions have gone on to win some of the world's most prestigious design and architecture awards. This series truly exemplifies the NGV's commitment to uplifting Australia's outstanding design and architecture practitioners and showcasing their achievements to a global audience."

The 2023 NGV Architecture Commission will be on display from 3 December.