MAD architects premiers shanshui city book with exhibition at UCCA, beijing

MAD architects premiers shanshui city book with exhibition at UCCA, beijing
all images courtesy of MAD architects

coinciding with the founding of his firm MAD architects, ma yansong releases a publication delivered in his voice, that details the development and practice of design evidenced in his ‘shanshui city’ project, for which the book is also named.

ma first presented the shanshui city project at beijing design week 2012 as part of a designboom-curated lecture series, posing the question: what will the city of the future look like?

‘shanshui city’ at ullenscenterforcontemporaryartin beijing

in ‘shanshui city’, ma investigates and proposes a way of living that sees our built environments addressing humanity’s affinity to seek spiritual refuge in nature, with the the plan not meant to be simplified down to an eco-, or a garden city. the book outlines future metropolises envisioned as having human spirit and emotion at their core, and introduces the origins, developments and desires he hopes to achieve with ‘shanshui city’; accompanied by other signature builds and schemes he has conceived over his 10 year creative journey.

the philosophy explores city density, functionality and an artistic conception of the natural landscape

on the occasion of beijing design week 2014, ma yansong / MAD architects exhibited visual excerpts from the publication at UCCA ullens center for contemporary art, where the official book launch of ‘shanshui city’ also took place. the presentation was accompanied by a forum, where chinese critics, scholars and ma introduced the key themes and ideas explored in ‘shanshui’, discussing its existence in the history of architecture, and its impacts and future developments in china.

images of ‘shanshui city’ projected onto floating screens

‘this book is a chronicle of ma yansong’s explorations of an ‘exacerbated’ landscape. it is about projects, but also about a daily practice of and in the city. it is a manifesto for a new global vernacular of the age of technological supremacy of the landscape.’ – hans ulrich, curator and critic who wrote the preface of the book

additional text has been written by architecture critic wang mingxian and scholar li xiangning.

large black and white screens suspended from the gallery ceiling

graphic designer kenya hara is responsible for the layout and visual content of the comprehensive volume, retaking pictures of key works and models to illustrate the publication. of the book he stated, ‘shanshui city will be the momentous milestone that carries ‘shanshui’, the eastern wisdom and architecture ideology. its impact is beyond imagination.’

the english version of ‘shanshui city’ is being published by lars müller publishers; and the chinese version will be published by imaginist. both will be released in october 2014.

chinese critics, scholars and ma introduced the key themes and ideas explored in ‘shanshui’ at a forum at UCCA