MAD led by Ma Yansong, participated in the international design competition for the Zhuhai Culture and Art Center and proposed the "Village Under the Dome" proposal.

In the past 30 years, China's urbanization renewal has mainly relied on the demolition and reconstruction of a large number of old cities and villages. When cities develop rapidly, new cities, new districts, and new public buildings tend to be homogenized, blindly pursuing big and new, empty and lacking in human touch. What is the core of urban renewal work?

MAD , led by Ma Yansong, participated in the international design competition for Zhuhai Culture and Art Center and proposed the plan "Village under the Dome".

The history of Yinkeng Village can be traced back to the Northern Song Dynasty. It is an old village with hundreds of years of history formed naturally by the sea. In 2018, the Zhuhai Municipal Government started the demolition of Yinkeng Village and planned to build a municipal cultural and art center here.

▲Model image

Urban renewal in China, especially historical blocks, should be about protection, revitalization, and re-creation, rather than completely erasing and starting over.

——Ma Yansong

The various large-scale and complex functional requirements of the Cultural and Art Center have been reorganized, arranged in accordance with the streets, terrain, and layout of the original village, and reproduced in the form of scattered small-scale buildings and blocks. On the basis of the existing protective demolition, a sense of community is created. On top of this design, MAD also envisioned a floating dome that brings together stacked and small-scale spaces.

理

▲The large unit is broken down into spaces of friendly scale, which are stacked and scattered on the original blocks of the village

The audience can enter the different functional areas along the original road network of Yinkeng Village, and the carefully designed landscapes are implanted to give the streets themselves a new visiting experience. The overall planning and design is also a combination of the old and the new. The original square, green space, pond, and iconic ancient banyan tree of the village can be preserved, and the outdoor square is redesigned under the tree to echo the long-standing admiration for nature in the southern Guangdong region.

▲Structural system description: roof structure vibration mode

At the same time, the dome also has the design intention of sustainable development and energy-saving function. The overall project combines the local climate and ecological environment of Zhuhai, follows the principle of "increasing revenue and reducing expenditure", makes full use of renewable energy, and realizes the large-scale and characteristic development of renewable energy; the proportion of municipal infrastructure using efficient systems and equipment reaches 80%.

▲Model photo

Architecture is closely related to human behavior and carries emotions and memories. Without "people", the continuation of culture and civilization is out of the question. Lack of humanity and respect for history, blindly demolishing and rebuilding are not the cultural values ​​that architecture should convey. The real traces of hundreds of years of natural formation in history have been erased, replaced by large squares and large buildings without roots and souls. We should focus our attention back on the extension of history and existing culture, avoid man-made "faults", and let people, nature, history and the future coexist in a harmonious world.

Village under the Dome: Zhuhai Culture and Art Center Competition Proposal
Zhuhai, China
2021

Type: Public Building
Planned Total Area: 296,200 m2
Total Building Area: 179,030 m2

Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Hayano Yosuke
Design Team: Xiao Ying, Dayie Wu, Punnin Sukkasem, Roman, Guo Xuan

Owner: Zhuhai High-tech Construction Investment Co., Ltd.
Grade A Design Institute: China Academy of Building Research