Ma Yansong: Architecture and Emotion opened on May 16, 2025, at the Nieuwe Instituut in the Netherlands. As the Netherlands' national museum for architecture, design, and digital culture, the Nieuwe Instituut is dedicated to exploring the transformative power of new ideas.

This exhibition marks MAD Architects’ first solo show in the Netherlands, led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, and Yosuke Hayano. It is a joint initiative between MAD and the Nieuwe Instituut. The curators are Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director of the Nieuwe Instituut, alongside Tijn van de Wijdeven and Emily Wijns.

Exhibition View

Curator Aric Chen remarked: “This exhibition explores various dimensions—from critiques of modernism and globalization to reflections on MAD’s design language; from domestic living and art installations to large-scale cultural and commercial projects. It offers audiences a closer look at the thinking and working methods of Ma Yansong and MAD. Through architectural models, art, and multimedia in flowing spatial arrangements, visitors can experience how MAD evokes emotion and engages with the environment through architecture.”

Ma Yansong said: “We hope visitors can connect with and understand MAD through this exhibition. MAD has always strived to bring new vitality and imagination to cities and architecture inviting people to rethink their relationship with nature, time, and the world.”

Curator Aric Chen with the MAD team at the opening party

MAD Partners Ma Yansong (center), Dang Qun (left), and Yosuke Hayano (right) at the solo exhibition site

Rem Koolhaas with Ma Yansong and Aric Chen at the exhibition site

The exhibition is structured around seven chapters, each anchored in key milestones of MAD’s architectural practice and research:

• MAD In China
• Absolute Towers
• Shanshui City
• Embodied Nature
• Layered Futures
• Connective Landscapes
• MAD People

Through a vertical analysis of 27 architectural and artistic works, the curators trace the evolution of MAD’s design philosophy revealing the layers, stages, and philosophical foundations that inform each phase of the studio’s creative journey.

The first chapter of the exhibition, "MAD In China," features seven early projects and publications Fish Tank, The Crazy Dinner Party, Beijing 2050, Floating Island: Rebuilding the World Trade Center, 800-Meter Tower, Superstar: A Mobile Chinatown, and Feelings Are Facts. These works present MAD’s imaginative and radical solutions for the future, rooted in the real challenges of urban development in China.

“MAD In China” Exhibition View

Floating Island – Rebuilding the World Trade Center, New York

Superstar: A Mobile Chinatown

Beijing 2050

Ma Yansong’s Sketches and The Crazy Dinner Party

The second chapter of the exhibition, “Absolute Towers,” is dedicated entirely to this project. Initiated in 2005 and completed in 2012, it marked a major milestone MAD became the first Chinese architecture firm to win an international competition for a landmark building overseas.

"Absolute Towers" Exhibition View

"Absolute Towers" in Mississauga, Canada

“Absolute Towers” and Superstar: A Mobile Chinatown

The third chapter of the exhibition, "Shanshui City," systematically traces the origin and evolution of MAD’s Shanshui City philosophy. Through three representative projects—Chaoyang Park Plaza, the Guiyang Shanshui City study, and the UNIC Residential Tower in Paris the chapter showcases how MAD translates the spirit of traditional Chinese Shanshui (landscape) painting into modern architectural language, creating new spatial typologies where city and nature coexist.

Guiyang Shanshui City Study

The fourth chapter of the exhibition, "Embodied Nature," presents five projects: the Zuidas Urban Complex in Amsterdam, the Cloudscape of Haikou, the Ordos Museum, the Quzhou Sports Park, and the Shenzhen Bay Culture Park. This section explores how MAD redefines the boundary between humans and nature within the contexts of the city and architecture.

Cloudscape of Haikou Library

Quzhou Sports Park

"Embodied Nature" Exhibition View

The fifth chapter, "Layered Futures," showcases six projects: The Ark (a warehouse renovation in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Cement Plant), Clover House Kindergarten in Japan, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Urban Mirage, Harbin Opera House, and the Fenix Museum in Rotterdam. Each reflects MAD’s boundless imagination and humanistic approach across different temporal and urban contexts.

The curators also highlight MAD’s dynamic yet flattened project management and discussions through modern communication systems—specifically, WeChat presented in animated form.

"Layered Futures" Exhibition View

Fenix, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Clover House Kindergarten, Japan

The sixth chapter, "Connective Landscapes," features five projects: Vertical Canyon in Denver, Baiziwan Social Housing, Jiaxing Train Station, Leping Courtyard Kindergarten, and the Tunnel of Light in Japan. This section illustrates how MAD uses architecture to connect nature, urban environments, communities, and diverse human-centered concerns.

Baiziwan Social Housing

Jiaxing Train Station

Courtyard Kindergarten, Beijing

The seventh chapter, "MAD People," uses video to highlight the cultural core of MAD: a team of “madders” from diverse backgrounds whose varied cultural interpretations and thinking create an open, vibrant, and collaborative atmosphere and output.

An interactive zone is also featured in the exhibition: using AR technology, visitors can transform abstract sketches made with just a few strokes into spatially volumetric designs.

The exhibition runs until October 12, 2025.

Visitors can experience the AR Interactive Zone, where abstract sketches come to life as spatially volumetric designs creating a vibrant, dynamic connection between creativity and technology.

Opening Ceremony | May 16
Ma Yansong: Architecture and Emotion
Dates: May 17 – October 12, 2025
Location: Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Curators: Aric Chen, Tijn van de Wijdeven, Emily Wijns
Assistant Curator: Susanna Olmi
Spatial Design & Curatorial Collaboration: MAD Architects
Art Direction: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Exhibition Team: Qi Ziying, Song Jia, Huang Juntao, Li Ran, Jiang Yunyao, Valentina Olivieri, He Linxi, Xie Xiaozhang, Liu Danyang, Wang Manwei, Zhu Yuanlong
Graphic Concept & Design: Joris Kritis with Emil Kowalczyk
Project Lead: Flora van Gaalen
Production: Thomas Tawanda Orbon, Christie Bakker
Technical Production: Peer Thielen
Communications: Moetoesingi Schmidt, Petra van der Ree, Robin van Essel, Jaap Stronks, Keesje Heldoorn, Jessica Dohmen-Verboom, Qi Lin Braat
Technical Support: Bart Smits, Stefan Prins, Robin Menheere, Richard Blokdijk, Joe Ziemba
Public Program: Linde Dorenbosch, Pia Canales, Joëlle Hoogendoorn, Tony Santos
Fundraising: Jacob de Munnik, Saskia Derksen
Art Direction Consultant: Maureen Mooren
Commissioned Work: Aimée Theriot in collaboration with Federica Notari
Copy Editing: Jane Szita, Alexandra Onderwater
Dutch Translation: Floris Dogterom
AI Development: Casper Wortmann & Thomas Groenewegen
Exhibition Construction: Bouwko Landstra & team, Antje Verstrate
Lighting Design: 50LUX
Graphic Production: SWOON sign & visual

Sponsors: Stichting Droom en Daad, Van Leeuwen Van Lignac Stichting, Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot, Abe Bonnema Stichting, Elise Mathilde Fonds
Photography: Demone, Presence Architecture, Ossip van Duivenbode

About the Nieuwe Instituut:
Based in Rotterdam, the Nieuwe Instituut is dedicated to imagining and experimenting toward a better tomorrow through past, present, and future ideas. Its exhibitions, public programs, research, and activities encourage curiosity and participation across all ages—providing a testing ground for top designers, thinkers, and audiences to critically address today’s urgent issues.