Melbourne-based architects Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang have created a scaled-down version of Greece's famous Parthenon temple, which is covered in colourful and perspective-bending murals.Built at a third of the scale of the original temple, Temple of Boom has been installed in the garden of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne for its NGV Architecture Commission.

Newman and Tsang, both of architecture studio NWMN,wanted to look at how and why the Parthenon has become "an apex symbol of Western civilisation,democracy and perfection".Victoria-based artists Drez, Manda Lane,and David Lee Pereira created murals that cover the structure, which incorporate flower motifs and optical illusions.

A trio of uniquely defined artists have overlaid their own imprint onto the canvas structure, each making an individual statement about an engagement between the built and natural worlds.Drez works to create a light-play through the gradient and sweeping colour application on the columns and capital elements, tweaked through subtleties as the columns move further away. 

Intersecting these, the painted monochromatic work of Manda Lane expresses an overgrowth that occurs over time and the process of allowing nature to encase a form. David Lee Pereira then brings another layer of hyper-realistic painting work, most prominently on the floor platform, allowing guests to engage with the works, while a higher-level application interacts with the other painting works.

Made from glass-reinforced concrete, the temporary installation is built around a 1958 Henry Moore sculpture, Draped seated woman, which is a permanent fixture in the NGV garden.Drez added colours to the structure's Doric columns, creating op-art gradients that trick the eye into seeing twisted geometries.

Temple of Boom will also host a programme of activities and performances, including a VR experience that will allow participants to virtually explore the real Parthenon in Athens.It is the seventh installation created for the NGV Architecture Commission, an annual pavilion series that began in 2016, and will also be the venue for NGV Friday Nights, which will include sets from some of Melbourne's top DJs.Temple of Boom is on show at NGV in Melbourne from 22 November 2022 until October 2023.