Architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of international studio OMA have been announced as the high-profile designers of the 2017 MPavilion in Melbourne, Australia.

The duo will work together to create the temporary landmark and events hub, located in Queen Victoria Gardens, which will host a free, four-month programme of talks, workshops, performances and installations.

The MPavilion project began in 2014, and is inspired in part by the annual Serpentine Pavilion programme in London. The previous designers selected are Studio Mumbai (2016), AL_A (2015) and Sean Godsell Architects (2014).

OMA, which was founded by Koolhaas in 1975, was described by pavilion organiser the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, as “a creator of modern architectural icons.” Despite their international profile, this will mark the practice’s first-ever completed Australian architectural commission.

“MPavilion is now a project of international significance and we look forward to contributing to the architectural legacy it has engendered,” said Koolhaas and Gianotten in a statement. “We’re excited by the brief of designing a cultural heart for the city – a space of public engagement that will spark creativity and discussion, and that will act as a theatre for ideas.”

Recent cultural projects completed by OMA include Fondazione Prada in Milan, Faena Forum in Miami and the Design Museum in London. The studio are also working on high-profile developments in Taipei, Dubai, Rotterdam and Manchester.

“Rem Koolhaas is one of the world’s most provocative and influential architects,” said Naomi Milgrom, chair the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. “His contribution to the cultural landscape as an urban thinker together with OMA’s multi-disciplinary approach to architecture reflects MPavilion’s desire to inspire debate about the role of design in building equitable and creative cities.”

Koolhaas and Gianotten explain what this project means to them in the video below: