The 2018 National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Architecture Commission by Melbourne architecture practice MUIR and landscape architecture studio OPENWORK was unveiled at the NGV International. Entitled Doubleground, the winning proposal for the fourth annual competition is a collaboration between the two practices, inspired by key architectural elements of Sir Roy Grounds’s iconic NGV International building in the year of the building’s fiftieth anniversary.

Doubleground transforms the NGV’s Grollo Equiset Garden with a site-specific work of temporary architecture by literally raising sections of the landscape and creating chasm-like passageways for visitors to explore between the tilted embankments.  Architect Amy Muir and landscape architect Mark Jacques drew from memories of visiting the NGV as a young child to create a digital collage that uses architectural components from NGV International for the design blueprint.

Including a canyon-like corridor, which references the triangular patterns of the NGV’s façade and glass wall of the Great Hall, the installation features a decking area that recalls Grounds’s timber design for the Gallery foyer and a bamboo garden inspired by the building’s original Bamboo Court courtyard.