Made out of bamboo poles and thatch tied together with rope, sitting on a bluestone floor, it's more sophisticated than your average hand-built shelter.

But the third MPavilion​, designed by Indian architect Bijoy Jain is a hut nonetheless.

"It is very much like a hut," he says, adding he's relieved and simultaneously exhilarated now that his creation has been realised.

Each morning gold leaf will be applied to the bamboo poles supporting the structure as part of a ritual reflecting Buddhist offerings, says Jain.

"I think it's open to all possibilities," he says of how he thinks people will use the space, which will host hundreds of events including yoga, concerts and workshops, until February 18.



Jain's Studio Mumbai specialises in handcrafted architecture, made by a team of artisans in India, that sits lightly on the landscape.

His design is the third of four MPavilions to be created as part of a project founded by Melbourne businesswoman and arts patron Naomi Milgrom​.

Milgrom's project kicked off with a Melbourne architect, Sean Godsell​, who created a steel structure with automated panels, followed by Stirling Prize-winning British architect Amanda Levete​, whose high-tech pavilion was more a floating canopy of light than a traditional building.

Jain's design comes as something of an elemental surprise following its predecessors. As lord mayor Robert Doyle said during the launch, it is an organic building, one whose materials you can not only touch but even smell.

As the wind and rain blew in through the sides during the MPavilion launch on Tuesday, visitors were glad of a waxed cotton canvas on top and low-slung sides to provide some shelter.

Asked about the cost of the project, which has also received support from the City of Melbourne, Victorian government and corporate sponsors, Ms Milgrom declined to provide a number, but said it had increased since the project was started. She says she is yet to decide whether it will continue beyond the initial four-year project.

The building prompted mixed responses from passers-by.

Judy Stanton, a Melbourne tour guide, says she has become an avid fan of the project since its inception in 2014. "I've watched from the beginning with each of them," Ms Stanton says. While she says she has found some of the designs "bizarre" (prompting laughter from Milgrom), Stanton says she has enjoyed getting to know and use each of the buildings.

Chilean tourist Rafael Herrera​'s first impression of the structure was that, yes, it was a hut, but that it didn't fit in with the architecture around it, such as the National Gallery of Victoria across the road.

Jon Matz​, a German journalist working as an intern at SBS, says architecturally "it's nothing special" but that it looks comfortable as somewhere to take shelter.

A Melbourne woman who asked only to be identified as Mary, who walks past the park every day, says she would prefer the gardens be left alone.

What do you think of the latest MPavilion? Tell us in the comments below.