National Gallery of Australia Launches National Sculpture Garden Landscape Design Competition

The National Gallery of Australia’s iconic sculpture garden is set to undergo a $60 million revitalisation with the launch of the Sculpture Garden Design Competition today.

The National Sculpture Garden in Kamberri/Canberra is one of Australia’s largest and most distinct sculpture gardens.

The National Gallery will conduct an open-call, two stage, competition to select a design team who can create an innovative design incorporating a public place for experiencing art, education, cultural and social events, while respecting the garden’s original design intent and heritage values.

The winner of the competition will lead a major redevelopment to revitalise the three-hectare garden surrounding the National Gallery, reinforcing its position as the most significant sculpture garden in Australia. The National Sculpture Garden project will be realised through philanthropic support.

National Gallery Director Dr Nick Mitzevich said: “The National Sculpture Garden is a major part of the National Gallery identity and a treasured site for many of our visitors. Considered a striking example of Australian landscape design, the original design was never fully completed and has not seen significant investment over many years. We are launching this major project to revitalise and bring the garden into the 21st Century.’

The competition is open to all design teams and encourages multidisciplinary partnerships from Australia, international or a combination of both. Applicants are encouraged to include a Landscape Architect, an Australian First Nations practitioner, artist, architect and botanist or horticulturalist.

Established in 1981, the National Sculpture Garden was designed by landscape architects Harry Howard and Associates, to respond to and extend the building’s triangular geometric spatial configuration designed by Colin Madigan AO and his team.

Set in the unique environment of Kamberri/Canberra and on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, the garden features native plants suited to the severe winter weather and hot dry summers of the region. It is home to sculptures and installations by leading Australian and international artists, from early additions by Bert Flugelman, Clement Meadmore and Auguste Rodin to contemporary works by Thancoupie (Dhaynagwidh/Thaynakwith people), Fujiko Nakaya and major site-specific works by Fiona Hall and James Turrell.

The National Gallery has worked in collaboration with Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects Annabelle Pegrum AM and technical advisors to guide the competition in compliance with expectations. The Australian Institute of Architects and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects have endorsed the competition.

The Stage One Competition Brief has been developed in collaboration with a panel of eminent individuals with industry experience across a wide range of fields including landscape design and architecture, art, architecture, education, heritage, accessibility and botany.

The competition encourages unique and imaginative conceptual designs which create a responsive landscape of resilience designed to mitigate climate change and enhance the mature trees and other plantings. Considerations of sustainability, accessibility and embedding First Nations principles are integral to the future design of the garden.

Entries for Stage One close 12 noon AEST on Wednesday 29 May 2024. Entries will be assessed by the Jury anonymously and a shortlist will be announced in June 2024 for progression to Stage Two.

Stage Two will see shortlisted entrants invited to further develop their conceptual designs for consideration by the Jury.

The winning design is set to be revealed in October 2024.

The full Stage One Competition Conditions, Brief and entry requirements are available here.

Entrants with enquiries regarding the competition should contact the Contact Officer specified in the Stage One Competition Conditions.

IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE

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ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA SCULPTURE GARDEN

The grounds that lie between the National Gallery and the shores of Lake Burley Griffin were configured to display the Gallery's extensive collection of sculpture.

After a few years in planning, works began on the sculpture garden in 1981. Harry Howard and Associates designed this garden to complement the building. The diagonal of the main pathway and the floor plan of the garden repeats the triangular architecture of the main building. The innovative landscape design included a set of 'outside rooms' plantings that showcase works by Australian and international artists.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA
The National Gallery is Australia’s national visual arts institution dedicated to collecting, sharing and celebrating art from Australia and the world.

Home to the most valuable collection of art in Australia, the national collection comprises over 155,000 works of art, including the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.

Based in the nation’s capital, the Gallery sits on the southern shore of Lake Burley Griffin, on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, and within Canberra’s National Triangle. The heritage listed building, designed by award winning architect Colin Madigan AO, is a beacon of experimental design and exemplary Brutalist architecture.

JURY MEMBERS

Professor Philip Goad (Chair)

Philip Goad is Chair of Architecture, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Australian Centre for Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage (ACAHUCH) in the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne. He is a Director of the Robin Boyd Foundation and Chair of the Heritage Council of Victoria. He is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (LFAIA) and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA).

An authority on Australian architecture, Professor Goad is the co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture (2012) and Australia Modern: architecture, landscape and design, 1925-1975 (2019), and co-author of Architecture and the Modern Hospital (2019) and Bauhaus Diaspora and Beyond: Transforming Education Through Art, Design and Architecture (2019). In 2022, he was a major contributor to the National Gallery’s 40th anniversary publication, Vision: Art, Architecture and the National Gallery of Australia.

Nici Cumpston OAM

Nici Cumpston OAM is a proud Barkandji artist, curator and writer whose family are also of Afghan, Irish and English descent. She commenced as the inaugural Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2008 and has been the Artistic Director of Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art since 2014.

Since 2016 she has been a member of the Art Advisory Committee for Parliament House South Australia, and she is a current Board member of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale and the National Centre for Photography.

Having studied fine arts, specialising in Photography at the University of South Australia, she has exhibited her works of art since 1998. Cumpston has been invited to participate in many prestigious awards and exhibitions and her works of art are held in major national and international collections.

Dr Nick Mitzevich, Director, National Gallery of Australia

Dr Nick Mitzevich was appointed Director of the National Gallery of Australia in July 2018. For the past two decades, Dr Mitzevich has held leadership roles in Australian arts organisations including the Art Gallery of South Australia; the University of Queensland Art Museum in Brisbane and Newcastle Region Art Gallery.

Dr Mitzevich holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, Graduate Diplomas in Education and Fine Art and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Newcastle, New South Wales.

Teresa Moller

Teresa Moller, a renowned Chilean landscape architect with 38 years of experience, has garnered international acclaim for her self-taught approach that emphasises careful observation and awareness of the landscape.

Notable for projects like Punta Pite in Chile, Moller’s influence extends to Argentina, Australia, Germany, France and China. Teresa's presence at prestigious events like the Venice Biennale and her role as a jury member at the 2018 Barcelona Architecture Biennale underscore her global impact.

Moller's work, featured in publications like "Unveiling the Landscape" and "Reflections in the Landscape," reflects her dedication to sustainable development, earning her the 2020 World Award for Sustainable Architecture from UNESCO.