Publication

Ma Yansong Named Guest Editor of Domus 2026

Awards

Ma Yansong | MAD Named Dezeen Architect of the Year

Construction

Lucas Museum Opening Date

Installation

Breathing Cells at the Seoul Biennale 2025

Jiaxing Station Park Wins 2025 ASLA Honor Award

Chinese Paper Umbrella - Reimagining Shelter Through Tradition and Technology

At MAD, we lead the way in creating bold, innovative and egalitarian designs that inspire and elevate the human spirit and natural experience. 

We strive to create uncompromising visions 

MAD won a competition in 2014 to design the museum that spans 11 acres. Envisioned as something otherworldly – like a cloud floating over the city – it creates a canopy that shades the park below, exploring the relationship between nature and the built urban environment.

The museum is comprised of gallery spaces, cinema theaters, a library, café and restaurants, along with an expansive landscaped rooftop that brings the greenery from the surrounding part up over the architecture. The terrace allows visitors to experience the museum from another perspective, while taking in panoramic views of Los Angeles.The five-storey museum is a personal project of American filmmaker George Lucas and will house his comprehensive collection of narrative art, comprising more than 10,000 pieces that include comics, illustrations, paintings, photographs, moving images, sculptures, and other works of art linked to movies, along with film memorabilia. This world class landmark project will be MAD’s first museum to be built in the US upon its completion in 2025.

Los Angeles, USA

Culture

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

MAD, led by Ma Yansong, has completed the restoration of the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel in Japan’s Niigata prefecture. The revitalization project sees the installation of several permanent artistic spaces along the historic lookout tunnel, with the intention of bringing back the cultural energy that once empowered the region. The “Tunnel of Light” opened on the occasion of the 2018 Echigo-Tsumari Triennale.

Located in the heart of Japan’s snow country, Echigo-Tsumari is home to mountainous terrain and a satoyama which is an agricultural expanse, where traditional ways of farming are still being practiced. While rich in nature, the region has slowly been suffering from an aging and decreasing population – a serious phenomenon that has seen many of the young, rural people moving to the big cities for work or education opportunities. This has left the elderly (65+ years) accounting for 37% of the community, while the average level in Japan is 27.7%.

As part of the 2018 program, MAD was invited to revitalize the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel – a historic, 750-meter passageway that cuts through distinctive rock formations, offering panoramic views over one of Japan’s three great chasms.

Drawing on the ‘five elements’ of nature (wood, earth, metal, fire, water), MAD’s scheme transforms points along the historic tunnel through the realization of several architectural spaces and artistic atmospheres. The designs rethink the relationship between humans and nature, and seek to re-connect locals and visitors alike with the majestic beauty of the land.

MAD’s “Tunnel of Light” is an artistic transformation that demonstrates how art and nature can come together to reinvigorate a community. Each one of the installations, forms a poetic space where visitors can transcend the role of observer, and become an active participant – allowing individuals to place themselves in nature in unexpected ways.



Tokamachi, Japan

Adaptive Reuse

Hiroki Fujino, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yuki Ishigami

Green sigma Co., Ltd.

Tunnel of Light

Fenix transforms Rotterdam’s historic Fenix warehouse into a cultural landmark that explores the universal story of human migration. Located on the Katendrecht Peninsula, the 1923 warehouse was once the largest transshipment hub in the world, serving as a departure point for millions of migrants.

The design preserves the building’s industrial character, retaining its original concrete structure and green steel windows while introducing contemporary interventions. A glass curtain wall replaces sections of the facade and roof, creating an open, light-filled interior.

At the heart of the transformation is the Tornado a double-helix staircase that rises from the ground floor and extends onto a rooftop observation deck. This sculptural element breaks down the scale of the warehouse into human-centered spaces while offering panoramic views of Rotterdam and the River Maas. Its flowing form, crafted from stainless steel and wood, symbolizes movement and transition, echoing the journeys taken by generations of migrants.

Inside, the space spans two floors, housing a growing collection of art, photography, and historical artifacts. Commissions from emerging international artists further enrich the museum’s narrative, presenting migration through diverse perspectives.

Opening in 2025, FENIX serves as a bridge between past and future, inviting visitors to engage with the complexities of migration through architecture, history, and contemporary storytelling.


Rotterdam, Netherlands

Alessandro Fisalli, Neeraj Mahajan, Marco Gastoldi, Edgar Navarrete, Cievanard Nattabowonphal, Jordan Demer, Chen Yien, Yuki Ishigami, Pittayapa Suriyapee, Claudia Hertrich, Gianluca Rovere, Antonio Laruffa, Nika Gasimbeyli, Paolo Pirri, Anna Spaggiari, Julian Salvadori, Giovanni Colombara, Edoardo D’Angelo

Droom en Daad Foundation

Bureau Polderman

IMd Raadgevende Ingenieurs

CSM Steel Structures

Central Industry Group (CIG)

Beersnielsen Lichtontwerpers

Bosman Bedrijven

LBP Sight

Iwan Baan, Arch-Exist, Hufton+Crow

Fenix

Shenzhen Bay Culture Park will see an ambitious urban development project that brings a vibrant cultural complex along the waterfront in Shenzhen, China. Numerous high-rises emerged over the past decade have become a contrasting backdrop for MAD’s design of the culture park: a 9.7-hectare piece of land occupied by a Museum of Craft and Design, and a Museum of Life and Science.

The scheme introduces a surreal, large-scale scene into the cityscape: an earth-sheltered architecture – an expansive green surface with a staggered layout of sculpturesque stones resting above, quietly settling into the landscape. Public exhibition spaces are spread across the ground floor, sunken into the ground.

The galleries speak to the surreal exterior, providing visitors with a unique experience that takes them on a journey through time and space. The stone-shaped buildings are mirrored on the interior, delivering flexible and stunning architectural effects. Reaching a height of 30 meters, it can house an exhibition of 5,000 sqm spread out horizontally. Natural light penetrates the exhibition space through subtle openings along the facade of the semi-concealed stones with stairs inviting visitors to climb up.


Shenzhen, China

Li Cunhao, Zhang Chao, Neeraj Mahajan, Sun Shouquan, Zhang Yaohui, Huang Jinkun, Maria Corella, Kenji Hada, Lin Zi Han, Yu Lin, Yan Ran, Chen Yi-en , Liu Hailun, Pittayapa Suriyapee, Lei Kaiyun, Alessandro Fisalli, Edgar Navarrete S., Haruka Tomoeda, Lu Zihao

East China Architectural Design and Research Institute 

 Arup Engineering Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Branch 

RFR (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. 

Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Decoration & Landscape Design Research Institute Co., Ltd. 

Beijing NingXhiJing Lighting Design Co., Ltd. 

Kenya Hara (Nippon Design Center) 

Guangdong Qiyuan Architectural Engineering Design Institute Co., Ltd. 

Paimeng Transportation Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. 

China Urban Development Institute Co., Ltd. 

MIR, Proloog

Guo Xuan

Shenzhen Bay Culture Park

When designing a stadium (or several stadiums), the scheme should be derived from the architect’s vision for the greater city, bringing both the competition among sports stars and the physical activity of people’s daily lives, together.

Following this ideology, Quzhou Sports Park embeds its functions into a public park. Façades disappear into the terrain, covered by greenery. Contours are engraved into the surface, some forming pedestrian pathways that weave between the mountains and over the architecture. Naturally serving as a new place for citizens to exercise, they offer the opportunity for people to climb the architecture. The lawn also provides a place where people can relax, introducing a new public green space into the city.

Upon completion, the project will become the world’s largest earth-sheltered architecture. MAD believes that the buildings and its architectural techniques should dissolve into human behavior and humanity’s greater spiritual pursuits, and to inspire the birth of a new urban civilization.


Quzhou, China

Sports Infrastructure

Quzhou Sports Park

Situated on the site of a traditional siheyuan courtyard dating back to 1725, Courtyard Kindergarten inserts a new building onto the historic site, forming a multi-layered urban narrative where old and new co-exist.

There is a saying in old Beijing: ‘three days without beating, and the child will scale the roof and rip off the tiles!’ Somehow, it describes the freedom of climbing up high and running on the roof hat children picture. MAD imagines the rooftop as a dynamic floating structure – a colourful playground, a magical place and an escape for children. Below the roof, the kindergarten’s open-concept layout serves multiple functions, offering a free and inclusive environment, with no boundaries or obstacles.

In its entirety, Courtyard Kindergarten merges seemingly conflicting architectural elements with the new design. It retains the authenticity of the original buildings, while creating new interaction between the old and the new. It offers children an understanding of history and space, preserving their inborn passion for freedom and pure imagination.


Beijing, China

Education

He Wei, Fu Changrui, Xiao Ying, Fu Xiaoyi, Chen Hungpin, Yin Jianfeng, Zhao Meng, Yang Xuebing, Kazushi Miyamoto, Dmitry Seregin, Zhang Long, Ben Yuqiang, Cao Xi, Ma Yue, Hiroki Fujino

Yuecheng Group

China Academy of Building Research

MAD, Supercloud Studio

MAD, ECOLAND Planning and Design Corporation

Lumia Lighting Design

Shanghai Siyou Metallic Materials Co., Ltd.

YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten

Its organic, fluid shape resembles an imaginary marine creature with openings of various sizes that add to the mystery and narrative of the architecture, therefore further evokes the he audience’s imagination and desire to explore.

To accomplish the complex construction process and to precisely present the fluid shape, the building adopts CNC models to fabricate the building. The overhanging structure also displays an anti-gravity, lithesome posture.

The building consists of two parts: a 1097 sqm reading space that could store tens of thousands of books, which comprises a café, a reading area and a rooftop terrace providing a tranquil resting space; the 300 sqm public communal area includes a bicycle parking lot, a drinking area, bathrooms and lavatories, serving for the tourists’ convenience.


Haikou, China

: Qiang Siyang, Shang Li, Sun Feifei, Dayie Wu, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Xie Qilin, Beatrice Bavuso

Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group

East China Architectural Design and Research Institute

RFR Shanghai

Ning Field Lighting Design Corp., Ltd.

2x4 Beijing

Beijing Ling & BuYao Interior design

Yihuida Shimizu Concrete

The Cloudscape of Haikou

Embedded within Harbin’s wetlands, Harbin Opera House is an abstraction of its natural surroundings. Inspired by the powerful aura of the Songhua River, it responds to the force and spirit of the northern Chinese city’s untamed wilderness, frigid climate, and rich musical history.

The building references the sinuous landscape that surrounds it, as if it has been sculpted by wind and water. Emphasizing public interaction and participation, the opera house welcomes both ticketholders and the public to explore pathways carved into its facade and ascend the building as if traversing the local topography. The grand theater emulates a wooden block that has been delicately eroded away. The presence of nature is carried out inside through a subtle skylight that visually connects the audience to the exterior, and the passing of time.


Harbin, China

Jordan Kanter, Daniel Gillen, Bas van Wylick, Liu Huiying, Fu Changrui, Zhao Wei, Kin Li ,Zheng Fang, Julian Sattler, Jackob Beer, J Travis Russett, Sohith Perera, Colby Thomas Suter, Yu Kui, Philippe Brysse, Huang Wei, Flora Lee, Wang Wei, Xie Yibang, Lyo Hengliu, Alexander Cornelius, Alex Gornelius, Mao Beihong, Gianantonio Bongiorno, Jei Kim, Chen Yuanyu, Yu Haochen, Qin Lichao, Pil-Sun Ham, Mingyu Seol, Lin Guomin, Zhang Haixia, Li Guangchong, Wilson Wu, Ma Ning, Davide Signorato, Nick Tran, Xiang Ling, Gustavo Alfred Van Staveren, Yang Jie

Harbin Songbei Investment and Development Group Co., Ltd.

Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) Institute No.3

Inhabit Group, China Jingye Engineering Co., Ltd.

Gehry Technologies Co., Ltd.

Beijing Turenscape Institute

MAD, Shenzhen Keyuan Construction Group Co., Ltd.

Harbin Weimeiyuan Decoration Design Co., Ltd.

Acoustic and Theater Special Design & Research Studio of East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI)

China International Engineering Design & Consult Co., Ltd.

Beijing New Era Architectural Design Ltd.

Shenzhen Freesigns Signage Co., Ltd.

Harbin Opera House

The Absolute Towers nicknamed the “Marilyn Monroe Towers” represent a departure from conventional high-rise design. Rather than emphasizing vertical lines, the towers feature smooth, continuous balconies that spiral around the façade, creating a sense of motion and fluidity. Each floor rotates slightly in response to surrounding views, offering residents unique perspectives of the sky, city, and landscape.

This organic form reflects our ongoing inquiry into how architecture can reconnect people with nature in dense urban environments. Instead of conforming to modernism’s machine-like logic, the design embraces complexity, emotion, and environmental awareness. The towers aim to redefine the skyline not through height alone, but through softness, rhythm, and presence.

The result is a landmark that transforms a suburban intersection into a new urban center an iconic statement of identity for Mississauga, and an architectural experience that engages both body and spirit.

Toronto, Canada

Residential

Absolute Tower

Yu Kui, Zhao Wei, Florian Pucher, Zhao Fan, Hao Yi, Yao Mengyao, Shen Jun, Robert  Groessinger, Yi Wenzhen, Liu Yuan, Li Kunjuan, Max Lonnqvist, Eric Spencer

BURKA Architects INC.

SIGMUND, SOUDACK & ASSOCIATES INC. 

ECE Group

NAK Design

ESQAPE Design

Absolute Towers

Jiaxing Train Station is a transportation infrastructure project located in the center of Jiaxing, a historic city southwest of Shanghai. The station rethinks conventional transit models by combining infrastructure with public space, culture, and nature.

At the heart of the site is a reconstructed version of the original 1907 station house, recreated using historical archives and local materials. This historic building is paired with a floating metal canopy and a sunken transportation hub, where platforms, waiting areas, and circulation are placed underground to free the surface for public use.

Above ground, the design extends an existing park, adding over 1,500 trees and a central lawn surrounded by low-rise buildings that house commercial and cultural programs. These spaces appear as sculpted green hills, offering open areas for public events. The entry plaza and gardens blend civic life with nature, turning the train station into a destination beyond transit.

The station design emphasizes human scale, ecological sensitivity, and integration with the city’s existing urban fabric. By combining transport with landscape and community functions, Jiaxing Train Station proposes a new model for future urban infrastructure.



Jiaxing, China

Yao Ran, Yu Lin, Cao Chen, Chen Nianhai, Cheng Xiangju, Reinier Simons, Fu Xiaoyi, Chen Wei, He Shunpeng, Li Zhengdong, Cao Xi, Zhang Kai, Li Xinyun, Kaushik Raghuraman, Deng Wei, Huang Zhiyu, Huai Wei, Sun Mingze, Dayie Wu, Hou Jinghui, Yin Jianfeng, Claudia Hertrich, Liu Zifan, Xie Qilin, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Qiang Siyang

Jiaxing Modern Service Industry Development & Investment (Group) Co., Ltd.

Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd.

Shanghai Shuishi Architectural Design & Planning Corp.,Ltd

Z’scape Landscape Planning and Design

Beijing Sign Lighting Industry Group

NDC CHINA, Inc.

Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Decoration & Landscape Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.

LERA Consulting Structural Engineers

China Railway Construction Engineering Group, China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Co., Ltd.

Jiaxing Train Station

“Clover House” is MAD’s first completed project in Japan. Clients Kentaro and Tamaki Nara would like to expand their school, and Clover House is where the clients’ school began as a humble operation from inside their family home. MAD proposed to retain aspects of the two-storey family home, and dynamically transform it into a fully developed educational institution.

The original wood structure are recycled and incorporated into the new design. Visibly present throughout the main learning area, a dynamic interior of translucent and enclosed spaces is formed to adapt to different teaching activities. Intimate spaces that create private and public in-between areas are formed, while windows are shaped in various geometries recognizable to the child’s eye, allowing sunlight to sift through and create an ever-changing play of shadows that encourage students’ curiosity and imagination. Clover House is constructed from a child’s point of view.

The new design’s skin wraps the old wooden structure like a piece of cloth, creating a blurry space between the new and the old – a pure white canvas of individuality that resembles a magical cave or a pop-up fort.


Okazaki, Japan

Takahiro Yonezu, Yukan Yanagawa, Hiroki Fujino, Julian Sattler, Davide Signorato

Kentaro Nara, Tamaki Nara

Kira Construction Inc.

Takuo Nagai

Fuji Koji, Dan Honda

Clover House

Hutong Bubble 32 is our first built prototype from its Beijing 2050 vision, originally presented at the 2006 Venice Architecture Biennale. The concept reimagines Beijing’s rapid urban development through micro-scale interventions that preserve and adapt the historic hutong neighborhoods, rather than replacing them with large-scale developments.

Amid ongoing demolition and neglect of old Beijing’s alleyway districts, Hutong Bubble 32 offers a functional yet symbolic insertion into the decaying urban fabric. Installed in a small courtyard, the bubble houses a toilet and staircase leading to a rooftop terrace. It is designed not as a standalone object, but as an extension of community life, encouraging new uses and social interactions.

Its smooth, mirrored surface reflects the traditional wood, brick, and greenery of the courtyard, creating a contrast between old and new while visually blending into its surroundings. Rather than displacing existing residents or history, the bubble coexists with them, catalyzing neighborhood revitalization.

These bubbles are intended to gradually form a network of architectural “membranes” that reactivate the city’s cultural core. Hutong Bubble 32 is a small but powerful gesture, emphasizing that meaningful urban progress can happen through intimate, community-focused design.


Dai Pu, Yu Kui, Stefanie Helga Paul, He Wei, Shen Jianghai

Beijing Nade Environmental Art Design Co., Ltd.

Hutong Bubble 32

Baiziwan Social Housing is an affordable housing project in Beijing. Located near the CBD, the project provides 4,000 rental units across 12 buildings and is designed to support diverse groups, including young professionals, seniors, and welfare-dependent residents. As a response to China’s growing urban housing challenges, Baiziwan rethinks public housing through a human-centered, sustainable approach.

Breaking away from the closed superblock model common in Chinese urban planning, we divided the site into six smaller blocks organized along a central public avenue. This creates an open, walkable neighborhood, with shops, cafes, kindergartens, and elderly care services at the street level to foster urban vitality.

Above the ground floor, a resident-only “floating garden” spans the second level, offering interconnected roof parks with gyms, playgrounds, and gardens creating a multi-layered public realm that integrates nature and community life. Across the site, stepped Y-shaped building forms enhance daylight access for all units, while north-facing corridors reduce thermal loss.

Over 80% of construction is prefabricated to reduce waste and improve build quality. Two buildings meet passive house standards, cutting energy use by 90%. With 47% green coverage, flexible unit layouts, and sustainable infrastructure, Baiziwan sets a new benchmark for social housing in China.

The project reflects our long-term research into social housing, advocating for a new model that centers on people, nature, and social integration.



He Xiaokang, Zheng Chengwen, Shang Li, Xu Chen, Li Guangchong, Wang Deyuan, Zheng Fang, Tong Shangren, Mujung Kang, Zhang Tingfu, Zhang Long, Zhang Kai, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yukan Yanagawa, Yu Zhipeng, Tomasz Czarnecki, Davide Signorato, Natalia Giacomino, Sear Nee, Yuan Yiwen, Steven Chaffer Park, Dookee Chung, Hiroki Fujino, Jiang Xuezhu, Chen Luman, Dina Khaki, Yang Xuebing

Beijing Public Housing Construction and Investment Center

Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

Earthasia Design Group (shanghai)

Beijing Ning Field Lighting Design Corp. Ltd

NDC China, Inc

CCDI International Design Consultants Co., Ltd.

Beijing Uni.-Construction Group Co., Ltd

Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd

Beijing Innovation Construction Engineering Management Co., Ltd

Beijing Yantong Construction Components Co., Ltd

Baiziwan Social Housing

One River North introduces a new approach to urban living, integrating nature into the heart of Denver’s River North Art District. A carved canyon runs through the 16-story glass facade, creating a vertical landscape that immerses residents in a natural experience inspired by Colorado’s foothills and canyons.

The canyon trail, spanning from the sixth to the ninth floor, features over 13,000 square feet of landscaped terraces, water elements, and gathering spaces designed to foster community and well-being. This organic intervention contrasts with the building’s geometric form, blending indoor and outdoor environments. The landscape evolves with the seasons, reinforcing a connection to the region’s natural beauty.

The development includes 187 rental units and 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail that integrates with the surrounding streetscape. A rooftop terrace offers panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains and Denver’s skyline, featuring a pool, spa, and garden inspired by alpine landscapes.

Certified by Fitwel, One River North prioritizes physical and mental well-being through thoughtful design. It redefines mixed-use development by merging nature, lifestyle, and community within an urban setting.

Denver, USA

One River North 

UNIC is located in Clichy-Batignolles, a mixed-use eco-district in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, the project integrates nature, light, and community into a high-density urban context.

Facing Martin Luther King Park, UNIC features expansive balconies that extend green space vertically, giving each unit semi-private outdoor areas and unobstructed views including the Eiffel Tower on upper levels. Its sinuous, tapering form contrasts with the city’s traditional Haussmann-style buildings and introduces a new residential typology centered on openness, light, and nature.

The building connects directly to metro infrastructure and with an adjacent public housing project, creating a diverse socio-economic community. At its base, public amenities such as retail, kindergartens, and restaurants strengthen neighborhood ties.

UNIC was the product of years of collaboration with city officials, planners, and residents. Through a participatory process, We helped shape a vision of future Parisian living one that prioritizes social inclusion, sustainable growth, and a redefined relationship between people and nature.


Paris, France

Zhao Wei, Wu Kaicong, Daniel Gillen, Jiang Bin, Tristan Brasseur, Juan Valeros, Gustavo Alfred van Staveren, Xin Dogterom, Juan Pablo, Cesar d Pena Del Rey, Natalia Giacomino, Torsten Radunski, Rozita Kahirtseva

Emerige 

BIECHER Architectes

BECIP – BET Structure

ESPACE TEMPS – BET Fluides

PHYTOLAB – BET Paysagiste

Charles Zana

Artelia

Vinci Sicra Ile-de-France

Jared Chulski, Adam Mørk, ArchExist, Shu He

UNIC

Gardenhouse is a mixed-use development that reimagines urban living by merging architecture with nature. The project consists of 18 residential units above ground-floor commercial space, forming a “hillside village” that emerges from one of the largest living green walls in the U.S.

The facade is planted with native, drought-tolerant species that reduce irrigation needs and create a textured, organic presence on Wilshire Boulevard. Above, a cluster of white, pitched-roof volumes with irregular windows evoke the hills of Los Angeles while providing varied housing typologies studios, condominiums, townhouses, and villas.

Each unit has its own entrance and private outdoor space, enhancing individuality and community. A central second-floor courtyard acts as a shared “secret garden,” designed for privacy and interaction.

The ground-floor entry along Stanley Drive is envisioned as a carved “cave” leading residents on a sensory journey of light, shadow, and water before opening up to a landscaped patio.

Gardenhouse challenges the standard apartment block, proposing a nature-infused alternative that prioritizes harmony between people, architecture, and the environment.



Li Guangchong, Jon Kontuly, Joanna Tan, Chris Hung-Yu Chen, Wenshan Xie, Cesar D Pena Del Rey, Jeffrey Miner

Palisades Capital Partners LLC

Gruen Associates

John Labib + Associates (JLA)

Breen Engineering Inc.

Rottet Studio

Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

Seasons Landscape

DHC Builders, Inc.

Gardenhouse

The permanent venue of the ZGC Forum Conference Center is located in the core area of Zhongguancun, Haidian District, adjacent to Yuquan Mountain, Summer Palace, Old Summer Palace, Peking University, Tsinghua University, etc., covering an area of 5.9 hectares.

Three Mountains and Five Gardens is a historical and cultural highland where nature and architecture were harmonized to a very high level in modern China. It has nourished and influenced Beijing from modern times to the present. The permanent venue hopes to establish its key role in the planning from multiple dimensions: at the technological level, it uses an open and imaginative space atmosphere to show the innovative vision carried by the venue; at the cultural level, it uses a humble attitude and the unique history and uniqueness of the site. Echoing the natural background; the green aspect becomes a new urban public space open to the city and community, and accessible to everyone.


ZGC Forum Conference Center

Perched in the snow-covered mountains of Northeastern China, the Yabuli Entrepreneurs’ Congress Center is our vision of a dynamic space for innovation and exchange. Designed for the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum (CEF), one of China’s most influential business organizations, this center is a permanent home for their annual summits.

Inspired by the natural landscape, we envisioned a structure that feels like a tent at the foot of a mountain, blending seamlessly with its surroundings. Its soft, silver-white rooftop mirrors the snow-capped peaks. At the same time, a central skylight floods the interiors with natural light during the day and glows warmly at night, evoking a campfire where entrepreneurs gather to share ideas. Inside, wood-paneled walls and panoramic views create a warm, immersive experience.

Beyond hosting large-scale conferences, the center is designed as a versatile hub featuring an exhibition hall, meeting rooms, and a television hall to foster business dialogue, corporate training, and public engagement. More than just a building, the Yabuli Entrepreneurs’ Congress Center embodies the boldness and vision of China’s top entrepreneurs, marking a new chapter for global business exchange.

Yabuli, China

Site Area

Building Area 

Building Height

Yabuli Entrepreneurs Congress Center

In traditional Chinese garden design, the integration of landscape and architecture plays a crucial role in establishing harmony, balance, privacy, and a natural atmosphere. 

These principles served as a significant influence on the design of a residential project in Zhengzhou. The development comprises 18 residential buildings, each six stories high, with equal emphasis placed on both the buildings themselves and the interstitial spaces between them. By intentionally deviating from a grid formation and incorporating petal-like balcony designs with softened building edges, the design generates irregular spaces between the structures. 

A continuous garden landscape extends across the site from north to south, anchored by a clubhouse at the northern end and a kindergarten at the southern end. Both the clubhouse and kindergarten feature green roofs, integrating natural elements directly into the architecture.

Zhengzhou, China

Ma Yansong

Dang Qun

Yosuke Hayano

Zhengzhou Residential 

Anji, a town named “the home of bamboo” and “the home of white tea” in China, is notable for its natural environemnt. Located in the core area of the new zone of Anji, Zhejiang Province, the Anji Culture and Art Center will be a future urban meeting room that meets culture, art, education and nature. The six venues - a grand theater, a conference center, a cultural center, a workers cultural center, a youth activity center, and art training center - are spreaded under the undulating hill of tea fields and the “bamboo leaf” roof.

The design is laid out with the visual corridors on both sides of the strait as the axis: the center of the site is not occupied by huge buildings. The central axis corridor has become an open outdoor platform, providing citizens with space for activities and viewing. The Linxi Stage on the west side of the axis can be used as an outdoor performance, concert and exhibition venue. At the high point of the site, there are many bamboo leaves scattered randomly, layered and scattered, covering the tea field. The staggered gaps in the “leaves” allow skylight to enter the interior, making the indoor space brighter and also optimizing the energy-saving performance of the building. The main facade of the self-supporting folded all-glass curtain wall is highly transparent and can reach a maximum of 17 meters. It is the highest self-supporting all-glass curtain wall in China to date.


Anji, China

Sun Shouquan, Dong Xue, Li Guangchong, Zhang Xiaomei, Wang Xianbo, Xi Kaiyu, Chen Bohan, Zhao Lilu, Deng Wei, Lin Yijun, Liu Yiqing, Qiao Xuantong, Hao Yue, Zou Dengyu, Jose Maria Urbiola, Wang Zhuyun, Shang Li, Wu Aoqian, Song Chi, Zeng Tianxing

Anji Construction Holding Group

Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Corp., Ltd.

Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

Earthasia (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Young-High Landscape Design Consulting Co., Ltd.

Wildscape Design Inc.

ECADI_Acoustic & Theater Specail Design & Research Studio

MAD, Jianfeng Construction Group Co., Ltd.

Poly (Beijing) Theater Construction Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.

Ning field lighting design Corp., Ltd.

Shanghai Ruiyi Environmental Design Co., Ltd.

NDC CHINA, Inc., City Code (Shanghai) Architecture Design co., LTD

Anji Culture and Art Center

Nanhai Art Center consists of three cultural venues including the Grand Theater, Museum, and Sports Center. After the overall completion, it will become the core hub of the waterfront on both sides of the river in Foshan, providing the citizens with a high-quality urban waterfront public space with cultural, artistic and natural attributes, and becoming the new city portal living room.

Looking at the site from a distance, the Nanhai Art Center looks like continuous ripples by the lake, with three main building bodies vaguely visible under the floating sunshade canopy. Semi-outdoor gray spaces of various forms interact with the central lake landscape and architectural functions. Citizens can choose different paths to walk on the roof, observe and experience the scenery.

The design takes the central axis of Qiandeng Lake as the axis. The sports center, grand theater and museum are arranged on both sides and become part of the axis.

Foshan, China

Nanhai Art Center

We strive to create uncompromising visions

We strive to create uncompromising visions

MAD News

MAD News