Ma Yansong

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Ma Yansong is a Chinese architect, founder of the MAD Architects studio. Born in Beijing in 1975, he graduated from the University of Civil Engineering and Architecture in his hometown (of which he is currently a professor) and later completed a master’s degree in architecture at Yale University.

Summary

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  • 1 Arquitecto
  • 2 Works Executed by Ma Yansong
  • 3 Premios
  • 4 Sources

Architect

Date of Birth: 1975, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Books: Shanshui City, MAD Works: MAD Architects, More Structure: Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort Education: Yale School of Architecture, Yale University Organization Fun

Works Executed by Ma Yansong

  • In 2002, during his stay at Yale, he developed his first relevant project which he called “Floating Islands “, in which his conception of what he would later call “Shanshui City”can already be seen reflected , his vision of a city that he believes a new balance between society, the city and the environment through new architectural forms. This conception will be present in most of his work through buildings with fluid curves, large public spaces and gardens.
  • In 2004 he founded his studio, MAD Architects,through which he will try to carry out his new concept of the city.
  • In 2006, his first international success came when he was the winner of the International Architecture Competition for the construction of two skyscrapers in the Canadian city of Mississauga,known as Absolut Towers, Ma Yansong designed two sensual towers (affectionately called Marilyn Towers by the neighbors), 170 and 150 meters high, which seemed to twist organically towards the sky, in contrast to the cubic skyscrapers that surrounded them. After the success achieved in the Mississauga competition, Ma was awarded the “Young Architects Award” of the “Architectural League of New York”.
  • 2005 made the design of the Museum of Art and City, in the Chinese city of Ordos, recently created. Ma Yansong conceived this building, in his own words, as “a reaction to the strict geometry of urban planning.” This formless building seems to have landed on Earth, surrounded by sinuous stone dunes, which refer to the Gobi desert, which until a couple of decades dominated the space that the city occupies today.
  • In 2010, Ma and his studio win the HarbinCultural Island International Competition , an architectural complex that includes an opera house, a cultural center and the landscaping of the surrounding wetlands. The center of the complex is the opera, a sinuous building with two auditoriums that seems to be sculpted by wind and water, and in winter it is camouflaged in the snow, achieving a perfect integration of the building with its surroundings. The architect himself described the complex as “a cultural center of the future, a huge auditorium, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of man, art and the identity of the city, while synergistically blending with the surrounding nature”.
  • China Wood Sculpture Museum, also located in the city of Harbin, completed in 2013. This building, influenced by the local winter landscapes, tries to reflect the contrast between nature and urban life, through a pavilion more than two hundred meters long, whose dynamic and twisted shape tries to emulate a frozen fluid.
  • In 2013, another of his best-known projects was completed, the Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort,better known as the Hotel Luna . The design of this building is based on the idea of ​​unity and infinity, with a completely circular structure (with two underground levels that give the structure its characteristic horseshoe shape).

prizes

  • 2014 with the “Young Global Leaders” award from the World Economic Forum.
  • 2015 was selected as the winner of the international competition commissioned by George Lucas to design the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, construction of which will begin this year.
  • Ma was chosen as one of the “20 Most Influential Young Architects” by ICON magazine in 2008, and as one of the “10 Most Creative People in Architecture” by “Fast Company” magazine.