While construction is progressing on the new Denton Corker Marshall-designed Australian Pavilion in Venice, Australians have an opportunity to experience the proposed new building as a piece of public art.

Melbourne restauranteur and architecture patron Ronnie Di Stasio has covered the entire street facade of his St Kilda restaurant Cafe Di Stasio in celebration of Australia’s new pavilion. The facade on Fitzroy street features two of Barrie Marshall’s evocative hand-drawn sketches of the building often described as “a white cube in a black box.” In the adjacent lane way, the building is depicted as a lone structure in the desert sands of the Australian outback.

Di Stasio is a long-time patron of the Australian Pavilion project including an ideas competition in 2008, exhibitions and sponsorships. Australia’s previous temporary pavilion designed by Phillip Cox in 1988 will be re-homed at Di Stasio’s vineyard in Coldstream, Victoria.

The new Pavilion, which will open in time for the 56th International Art Exhibition in 2015, is set to reposition Australia’s place at the Biennale. “I think it will change the way Australia is seen in the Giardini,” said John Denton, a director of Denton Corker Marshall. “We saw it as a rather enigmatic building, looking at it through the trees across the canal. I think it will pull people towards it because of its enigmatic nature.”

The pavilion and its architects are the subject of an upcoming documentary produced by Renegade Films. The film is yet unfinished and unfunded but a trailer has been release.

LAND ARTISTS - TRAILER from Renegade Films.

Australia is one of only 29 countries to have a permanent pavilion. The $7.5 million project has been funded primarily through donations from private benefactors, in addition to a contribution of $1 million from the Australian Government through the Australia Council.