Recently, MAD Architects, led by architect Ma Yansong, published its latest collection of works, MAD Rhapsody. At the book launch in the lecture hall of UCCA Edge Art Museum in Shanghai, Ma Yansong shared his architectural practices and thoughts, and held a dialogue with Li Xiangning, dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University.
"I think Rhapsody is a path I've walked myself... Personality is a very important thing in culture and human nature," Ma Yansong stressed the care for the heart, "I saw some great architectural works, which may never belong to that era, but in retrospect, these people who are very concerned about their hearts have formed a brilliant starry sky, formed a cultural world, and then become some basis for us to go to waywardness." ”
MAD Rhapsody is a collection of 23 architectural works from the firm since its founding in 2004 in 18 countries and regions, covering different genres of public cultural buildings, urban renewal, urban complexes, residences and works of art. Regarding the naming of "Rhapsody", Ma Yansong said: "Our work is like such a rhapsody. The firm called MAD itself means madness, expressing rebellion, but also expressing opposition to following a single chapter, the so-called correct goal, the boring form, the monotonous language, and we are more interested in responding to the colorful real world with rich, abundant and pure emotions. The architect Philip Jodidio writes in the preface to the book, "Every sequence (or architectural work) in the book is closely related to the issues that Ma Yansong is concerned with: time, transcendence of reality, harmony, natural landscape, and ultimately human life." ”
Echigo's wife has a "Tunnel of Light" _ Photo: Osamu Nakamura
At the book launch, Ma Yansong shared his views on the relationship between architecture and nature and the surrounding environment. In 2018, Ma Iwamatsu and the office presented the work "Tunnel of Light" at the Echigo Tsumari Land Art Festival. "We did an artistic transformation that turned the cave into a reflective material... After the person enters, he will see a complete circle, and through reflection, the heavens and the people will become one. "From this, he thinks about what man can do when making a work in nature." Many times architects talk about nature, and others say that all the nature you do is fake, and in the West, nature is nature, and man-made is man-made. But the East looks at nature a little differently, such as nature in the garden, it is a choreography, producing a supernatural feeling. Ma Yansong said that in this natural space that Echigo's wife had, he did not create too much, but tried to create an imaginary space, so that man and nature formed a balanced dialogue.
Lecheng Courtyard Kindergarten_Photo: There is a building
"Clover House" is another project of MAD in Japan. This is a kindergarten located in Aichi Prefecture, which was converted from an old house. Ma Yansong retained the original wooden structure in the design as part of the new building, adding a white tent shell to the exterior. In his view, the wooden structure of the old house can hold the emotions of the owner's family. "Architects should have this connection to the lives of the people he is dealing with." He explained.
Chaoyang Park Plaza_Photo: Hufton + Crow
In Beijing, Ma Yansong's design of Chaoyang Park Square has received a lot of controversy. The work is derived from the practice of his concept of "landscape city", that is, the pursuit of natural artistic conception in the city, not just the buildings in the city directly into the appearance of mountains. In his view, chinese cities do not need to follow in the footsteps of Western industrial civilization, but should try to create a new city that can be compared with those classical cities with Eastern natural philosophies on a spiritual and cultural level. Chaoyang Park Square is one of his attempts, and at the new book launch site, he also admitted that many people criticized the architecture for being out of place in the environment, but in the paintings of architectural historian Wang Mingxian, Chaoyang Park Square was collaged in classical landscape paintings, and there was no sense of violation.
How should architects respond to the past? How to avoid making mistakes in the name of "cultural revival"? In the dialogue after the press conference, Li Xiangning asked. "Everyone feels that 'cultural rejuvenation' is to increase the distance with the West, and then take out China's previous things and make various interpretations." I think some new possibilities should be considered. Contemporary Chinese culture should be able to produce something new and inspiring. Ma Yansong said, citing the Example of the Japanese artist Okakura Tenshin, "Their work has a strong strategic and directional nature, laying the foundation for future generations in Japan." ”
FENIX Immigration Museum Rotterdam
Today, MAD Architects has a number of cultural buildings and landmark works in China and around the world. In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, MAD transformed a historic warehouse on the waterfront, which included a blue staircase that spiraled upwards. Commissioned by the Dutch Room en Daad Foundation, the project is MAD's first cultural project in Europe, which plans to transform the warehouse into the Rotterdam Immigration Museum, creating an urban public space for people to enjoy the cityscape and understand the history of Rotterdam's immigration. In addition to the exaggerated staircase, as a metaphor for the history of immigration, Ma Yansong designed a seagull sculpture in the corner of the building. This design has been questioned by some people, and in Ma Yansong's view, people should now break the concept of old buildings, and should not only consider protection and consolidation. "After 9/11, many architects did the reconstruction of the World Trade Center, commemorating the original building. But I don't think history can stop at our generation, it needs to keep stuffing new things in. I feel that the conversation with history requires a very personal approach. ”
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Further reading:
Mad Rhapsody Preface (Excerpt)
Ma Yansong/Wen
When I see goldfish being sold on the side of the road, I think of the plight of people in the city, and the sense of compassion makes me have to design a fish tank that I think is more dignified.
When the Father and Son of Japan, whom I knew, struggled with whether to tear down their old house in order to build a kindergarten like home, I suggested that the skeleton of the old house could be preserved as a continuation of memory and life, so that the new space could be warm.
When I was confronted with old Beijing, which was swallowed up by the high-rise buildings on one side of a thousand cities, I wanted to build a lonely black peak as a monument to the lost spirit of classical landscape and water, and as a fortress against the modern values of "higher, faster and stronger".
When I see all kinds of fake antiques newly built in the name of "protecting the style of the ancient capital", and see people calling for tradition in the history of being tampered with, small bubbles of reflection bubbles appear in my mind, which do not have any characteristics of the times, but maintain the authenticity and independence of history.
When I see the landscape outside in a cave in Japan, the light, as if it must be a complete circle, you can go inside and meditate between heaven and earth.
When the founder of Star Wars wanted to dedicate a museum to young people, I couldn't suppress my curiosity to learn about his universe, and curiosity was the fear of the unknown.
"Haikou Yundong Library", photo by CreatAR Images
When I see the exhausted people in the city, walking between the "great" palaces and monuments, I want to build a place of spiritual freedom, so that all the buildings disappear and become the landscape of the earth, so that everyone has time to take care of their hearts.
Reactions and emotions to different things dragged me into a completely different world. My rhapsody is a feeling, immersive, full of variations, lyricism, and drama in the transition of emotions. Juxtaposing each feeling creates a dislocation and reorganization of space-time. I don't think of time as linear, and I don't particularly care about history or the future. In the juxtaposition of multiple space-time, I can enter a broader dimension of time.
It may not have a fixed formal structure, appearance, no obvious, unified development model and organization, but more pursuit of capriciousness, improvisation, especially freedom. It's a folk epic that celebrates personal emotions and makes fantasies a reality.