Founded by architect Ma Yansong, Beijing- and Los Angeles-based MAD has designed many of China's most exciting new buildings. Incorporating "shanshui city" principles -- bringing nature into urban areas -- the firm's work is forward-looking, while also referencing eastern culture and art. Here are four of its projects under construction.
CHAOYANG PARK PLAZA
Once completed in 2016, this complex will rise 120 metres above Beijing's central business district (pictured top of page), and will include 120,000m<sup>2</sup> of offices, shops and residential buildings. MAD designed it as a "shanshui city" -- an in-house concept that brings nature into urban environments. So here, the buildings are modelled on the types of natural landscapes seen in traditional Chinese paintings.
HUANGSHAN MOUNTAIN VILLAGE
This residential project in Anhui province is designed to blend into a background of limestone cliffs and green hills. It will provide housing, a hotel and amenities for the many tourists visiting the nearby Huangshan mountains. The use of locally sourced construction materials and the incorporation of plants in all the balconies are intended to boost its closeness to nature.
HARBIN CULTURAL ISLAND
The city of Harbin, close to, and culturally influenced by, Russia, is considered northern China's music capital. This new 79,000m-metre-square cultural centre -- located in the natural landscape of Sun Island, by the Songhua River -- will have two theatres, with a total of 2,000 seats. The buildings' mountainous shapes and stone-and-aluminium exteriors reference the snowy peaks in the distance.
NANJING ZENDAI HIMALAYAS CENTER
This 560,000-metre-square commercial complex in Nanjing is also influenced by MAD's "shanshui city" concept. Made up of six units connected by gardens, footbridges and plazas with flowing water, the project harks back to the idea of a hillside village, where people can wander and meet freely. The simplicity of its design is echoed by the choice of smooth concrete for much of the construction.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
