In Dezeen's year-end special issue, the "Top 10 Completed Buildings in China of 2022" were selected MAD's Quzhou Stadium and Baiziwan Social Housing were both featured on the list.

Quzhou Stadium

Baiziwan Social Housing

By blending the functions of a stadium with the natural landscape, Quzhou Stadium creates an open, shared, and civic public space that reconnects the city with nature.

Baiziwan Social Housing is MAD’s first affordable housing project, aimed at diversifying residential design in China.

Scroll to the end for the full list of featured projects.

Quzhou Stadium

“Our vision is not only to create an urban space centered on sports and ecology but to transform it into a one-of-a-kind land art park, one that builds a cultural continuity with the city’s landscape and historical context.”

— Ma Yansong

Seamlessly Connected with Nature — Inside and Out

Quzhou Stadium is a key component of the larger Quzhou Sports Park. MAD’s design merges

A Seamless Connection Between Architecture and Nature

As a key component of Quzhou Sports Park, Quzhou Stadium integrates athletic facilities with the natural landscape. MAD’s design creates a land art terrain resembling volcanic clusters and a mirrored lake, right in the city center. The result is an open, shared urban public space that reconnects people with nature. Once completed, Quzhou Sports Park will become the world’s largest earth-covered architectural complex.

The architecture is intentionally concealed its façades covered in greenery, with portions of white linear pathways serving as pedestrian walkways.

The entrances to the stadium are formed from complex double-curved concrete surfaces, giving the structure a sculptural and fluid geometry.

The exposed wood-grained concrete column wall supports the entire stadium.

The "light crown" wind and rain cover supported by a steel structure is supported on the stands through 9 landing points. The outer side is wrapped with a light-transmitting membrane material, and the seats are organically divided by five gradient colors.

Baiziwan public rental housing

“Housing in China especially social housing should not only address the basic need of providing shelter but also respond to the deeper question: What defines ideal living?

How can people feel a true sense of belonging? What defines community spirit? How do we foster equality in how people live together? How should public spaces balance freedom and management? These are all questions that design has the power to answer.”

— Ma Yansong

Community Streets That Connect to the City

As MAD’s first social housing project, the goal was to break away from convention through practical application using design to drive innovation in China’s social housing system. The aim was to create architecture and spaces that serve people directly, allowing large-scale residential communities to dissolve into the fabric of the city and daily life. The project seeks to reawaken the social dimension of housing while addressing the specific challenges of urban living amid China’s rapid development.

The ground floor functions are returned to the city, with an open block layout forming part of the urban fabric.

Small-scale blocks and street-corner supermarkets enrich the community’s daily life through diverse commercial functions.

Landscaped spaces of varying scales are integrated into the ground floor, staggered levels, semi-open grey spaces, and rooftops ensuring greenery is embedded throughout the community.

A Y-Shaped Building Layout That Ensures Equal Sunlight Access

The Y-shaped layout of the buildings is designed to ensure that each household receives equal access to natural sunlight.

Dezeen Selection｜Top 10 Completed Buildings in China, 2022

(Full List)

• Dew Library, Shuangyue Bay, Huizhou — SANMEI Architecture
• Baiziwan Social Housing, Beijing — MAD Architects
• Yongan Village Civic Center, Dali — Tongji Architectural Design and CU Office
• Shanghai Library East, Shanghai — Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
• Jinyun Quarry Park, Jinyun County, Zhejiang — DnA Design and Architecture
• Dance of Light, Chongqing — Aedas
• Hotel While We Were Young, Nantou Old Town, Shenzhen — Neri&Hu Design
• DJI Sky City, Shenzhen — Foster + Partners
• Quzhou Stadium, Quzhou — MAD Architects
• Metasequoia Grove Restaurant, Suzhou — GOA Architects

About Dezeen

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