This year is the sixth year of the MAD Travel Fund. Five students from domestic architecture departments stood out from more than 100 applicants and received full funding to travel to cities or regions of their choice for 10-14 days of architectural travel. This year, they traveled to Greece, Japan, France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. For these young architects, this may be the most unique learning opportunity in their early design careers.

At 17:00 on November 20, 2014 (Thursday), MAD held a 2014 MAD Travel Fund presentation for these five students, allowing them to share their stories of "travel and architecture" with everyone. MAD Travel Fund founder Ma Yansong, architectural critic Bao Pao, MAD partner Dang Qun, media friends and more than 60 audiences attended the sharing session.

Fang Xiaoyang, Zhejiang University School of Architecture and Civil Engineering_Undergraduate 10th grade, Destination: Japan
Minimalist artist John Cage and a group of modernist advocates once regarded Japan's oriental culture as one of the sources of modernity. Fang Xiaoyang hopes to find the source of this oriental thought that influences the construction of Western architectural systems during his trip to Japan. In his eyes, the crowds in Tokyo are order in disorder and the superposition of emptiness. Modern buildings echo the ancient city of Kyoto with their boundless and ambiguous gestures. This may be the modern orientalism that Fang Xiaoyang wants to find.

Zhang Boxuan, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, undergraduate, Grade 11, destination: France
In Paris, Hemingway's words and the magic of primitive art made Zhang Boxuan realize the significance of urgency and hunger for creation. The monster on the bell tower of Notre Dame triggered his thinking about the narrative of architecture. Questioning the journey made him sigh that the noble ideals of mankind seemed to have never changed in a scene that was strikingly similar to Le Corbusier and postmodernism.

孙玮，天津大学建筑学院_本科生10级，目的地：意大利
孙玮认为，意大利某种程度上和中国有许多暗合之处：完整地发展了自己的古建筑文明之后，同样面临着现代建筑的整合与挑战。意大利是如何应对的？她在旅行中试图解读意大利城市中新旧场所的融合、现代和古典建筑之间的对话，并希望能进一步思索与探讨我们应该如何做，如何找寻古典与当代建筑精神的相通之处。

Wei Tao, School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts, undergraduate, Grade 10, destination: Greece
Wei Tao believes that the significance of architectural travel lies in exploring the real touch given to us by real space, and this touch may be the architecture we are familiar with, or it may be an accidental encounter somewhere on the roadside. The visit to the Acropolis of Athens made Wei Tao feel how architecture expresses eternity; and the architecture of daily life of local residents on the Aegean Islands made him feel how architecture reflects the emotions of daily life. As a carrier of life and an art of material space, architecture has its own unique way of expression.

Marseille, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University_Graduate 2014, Destination: Switzerland, Germany
Marseille’s trip to Europe this time was mainly to look for Zumthor’s early buildings. Through personal experience of the environment, materials, space, and details, she talked about how to find the interconnected factors in Zumthor’s buildings, and tried to discover the details that he always paid attention to when creating the atmosphere.

马岩松、包泡、党群对每一位报告学生作了点评和交流。马岩松最后寄语学生及现场观众：很多建筑师都旅行，但一定要保持开放、真诚、空白、敏感，去寻求属于自己的东西。旅行外，对生活的一点一滴也要保持敏感，在其中找到属于自己心灵的空间。

MAD has established a travel fund since 2009, which supports five domestic architecture students to travel abroad each year. MAD believes that travel is one of the most important ways for architects to learn. Only by experiencing architectural space in person can we inspire different ideas and further understand ourselves. While going out to broaden our horizons, we can also reflect on local culture. This is the concept that the MAD Travel Fund hopes to convey to young architects.

We will continue the 2015 MAD Travel Fund in May next year.