MAD and ma yansong's 'dreamscape' architecture profiled in dedicated edition of a+u

the september 2020 issue of a+u: architecture and urbanism, japan’s premier monthly architecture magazine, has been dedicated to MAD architects. established in 2004, the global architecture practice led by ma yansong now has offices in beijing, jiaxing, los angeles, and rome. the september edition of a+u celebrates this journey though the theme ‘dreamscape’, with models, sketches, drawings, and images of MAD’s work. the 22 art and architecture projects featured include the harbin opera house, shenzhen bay culture park, quzhou sports campus, and courtyard kindergarten.

‘since its beginning, the studio has been experimental and bold with its futuristic designs,’ says a+u, elaborating on the edition’s ‘dreamscape’ theme. ‘to MAD, it is also important that the environment they built maintains spiritual and emotional connections with people through nature. the result of this combination of technology and nature is a type of fiction architecture that balances itself ambiguously between art and architecture.’

the featured material includes drawings and images never seen by the public, as well as an essay titled ‘architecture, art, and beyond’ from fumio nanjo, senior advisor of the mori art museum in tokyo. to celebrate the MAD-dedicated issue, which can purchased here, designboom shares excerpts from fumio nanjo’s essay below.

the architecture of MAD raises some common questions. what does ‘architecture’ mean today? the functionalist architecture created out of mass-produced components since modern times has now been renewed by new technology and design philosophies. computer technology has made it possible to create curved walls and roofs, and irregular volumes.

in addition, AI and 3D printing technology enable us to control the production of precise components, expanding the possibilities of new construction methods using robotics and drones. as a result, architecture has attained a certain freedom of form. today, we live in an era where architectural design has expanded, and where the contours of its domain cannot be defined in simple terms. by questioning the meaning of architecture in these times, MAD performs a critique of modernist architecture, and seeks to draw closer to the future.

the architecture that MAD creates is seen as a kind of landscape. in terms of how it takes its starting point from architecture, the landscape undeniably seeks to become a city. yet, it also represents a new kind of nature that surrounds and encircles us. MAD has redefined architecture as a new nature.

if you look at ma’s drawings, you can see how he traces curves freely on the paper, just like a child would draw lines with a brush, and how these curves extend to the volumes of real architecture. it seems to me that they are no precedents for how architectural forms evoke a freedom of the mind and spirit. ‘fluidity’ is another term typically used to describe MAD’s architecture. it is a symbol of change, and calls to mind philosophy of metabolism.

it makes little sense to ask whether each of these MAD experiments is architecture or art. their work essentially pivots back and forth between the boundaries of architecture, art, and design. in their practice, there is no difference between the ‘built’ and ‘unbuilt’. all of these things embody what it means, essentially, to be creative. art is also a question of how one chooses to live. — fumio nanjo, art critic; senior advisor, mori art museum.