The full jury for the NGV Contemporary Design Competition has been announced by the Victorian Government and National Gallery of Victoria, coinciding with the launch of the Expression of Interest for the competition.

The competition for the design of the NGV Contemporary Art Gallery, seeks to find a visionary, sustainable and dynamic approach from a multidisciplinary Australian team. The first step of the EOI process is now opened, with registrations now being accepted via the competition website.

With three members initially announced in January, NGV have made their final selections to the jury today. The final members round out a wide-ranging group of formidable architects and designers tasked with finding the ideal blueprint for the gallery.

The jury members for the competition can be found below.

Maree Clarke – Artist, curator and art consultant

Clarke brings 30 years’ experience working in the contemporary and cultural First Nations arts sector. She is a leading possum skin artist, also working with kangaroo teeth, echidna quills, glass and photography, and has been a curator at the Koorie Heritage Trust and Wyndham Art Gallery.

Tony Ellwood AM – Director: NGV

The Director of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and a leading figure in the Australian arts sector Ellwood began his career as an Aboriginal Art Coordinator at Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Kununurra; then as a Curator at the NGV. He was Director, Bendigo Art Gallery; Deputy Director – International Art, NGV and Director of the Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) prior to returning to the NGV as Director in 2012. Under Tony Ellwood’s stewardship, the National Gallery of Victoria has become the most visited gallery in the country.

Jill Garner AM – Victorian Government Architect, Principal: Garner Davis Architects 

Garner became the Victorian Government Architect in 2015, stepping into a role as public advocate for architecture and design after more than twenty years as an active architect. Her practice has received numerous industry awards for works ranging from residential to public buildings. As a design advisor in government, she strongly promotes the value of contextual, integrated design thinking and a collaborative approach across design disciplines.

Francine Houben – Founding Director: Mecanoo

Francine Houben is the Founder and Creative Director of Mecanoo architecten. Her work ranges from theatres, universities, office buildings and libraries to neighbourhoods, housing, masterplans and parks. Each design is considered in terms of its cultural setting, place and time. As such, Mecanoo treats each project as a unique design statement embedded within its context and orchestrated specifically for the people who use it. She has held professorships at the Technical University Delft, the Netherlands as well as at Yale University and Harvard University in the USA.

Corbett Lyon (Chair) – NGV Trustee, Director: Lyons Architecture

Corbett Lyon is an Australian architect, art patron and academic who lives and works in Melbourne. He is a founding director of Melbourne architectural firm Lyons. Lyons has designed many award-winning institutional and public buildings in Australia. He is a Trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria and has been a member of the Victorian Government’s Design Review Panel.

Gerard Reinmuth – Director: Terroir, Professor of Practice: UTS

Reinmuth is the Founding Director of TERROIR, an architectural practice based in Sydney, Hobart and Copenhagen. His projects include the Tornhuset Maritime Museum, Penguin Parade Visitor Centre and soon to be completed Puffing Billy Railway Visitor Centre at Lakeside. Reinmuth is a Professor of Practice at the University of Technology Sydney and was the Creative Director of the National Architecture Conference in 2009 and Creative Director for the 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture (Australian Pavilion).

Xu Tiantian – Founding Principal: DNA

Xu Tiantian is an architect based in Beijing. She received her Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard before working as a senior architect at OMA in Rotterdam. Since opening DnA _Design and Architecture she has achieved a strong reputation in China with numerous cultural and educational projects. She received the WA China Architecture Award, the Young Architects Award from The Architectural League New York and the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture.

Expressions of Interest for the NGV Contemporary Design Competition are now open as of today (2 March, 2021). Before being able to submit an EOI, eligible teams must first register via the competition website. Registrations close on March 9, 2021.