MPavilion, created by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, is Australia's leading architectural commission. Annually, an architect is engaged to design a pavilion in Melbourne to host a five-month design festival of free events. To commemorate its tenth year, prolific Japanese architect Tadao Ando was invited to design MPavilion 10. Circle|Square by Davidov Architects was selected by Tadao Ando, from nearly 100 submissions, as the seating for MPavilion 10 and chosen for its echoing of the pavilion’s singular composition and form.

Tadao Ando explains, ‘Davidov’s concept shares my fascination with the geometry of circles and squares. I felt there was an important synergy between my investigations into the use of platonic shapes and the Circle|Square stool. It was exciting to see this carried through in their captivating, pure design.’

Tadao Ando’s carefully controlled use of light, restrained material palette and purity of form informed Davidov Architects’ approach in designing the Circle|Square stool. Davidov gravitated towards a response that would pay homage to these practices, while clearly representing their own design approach.

The stool resonates with the MPavilion 10 in a simple, effortless and reductive way. The stool is composed of seven identical 389-millimetre off-the-shelf lengths of treated pine, structured to form stills that allow light to pass through, off-setting its massing. The Circle|Square design considers the reliance on joints and timber connections to ensure long-term durability. The selection of locally grown and harvested radiata pine reduced the embodied energy of each stool and the use of a single board size for all elements allowed for a minimisation of waste in the fabrication process.

Circle|Square rejects notions of decoration, focusing instead on the selection of natural materials used honestly and on legibility of form. Davidov Architects hope their design is seen to be simultaneously familiar and approachable to visitors, whilst also resonating with the architectural context and expression of Ando’s powerful MPavilion 10 design.