Interviews

Ma Yansong

- Hi, Ma Yansong

- Hi

- Thank you for appearing on our show. First let me ask you about your studies. Where did you study? You started in China, right?

- My undergraduate study was in Beijing. Then I did my masters in the US.

- At Yale?

- Yes, Yale. Then after Yale. I worked in London. I worked at the firm of Zaha Hadid Architects.

Then you came back to China…

-When I was in London, I entered a few Chinese competitions. And I got a commission.

The SOHO project?

-No, SOHO was done for Zaha. There were other projects in Shanghai and elsewhere.

-And then you started MAD? Why did you call it MAD?

-MAD is an abbreviation of Ma Design. Because I don’t want to only design buildings. I want to design other things as well.

So you are going to….

We are already designing things like furniture, a fish tank, and some interior design pieces.

-What about the Canadian project and the building you designed?

-It’s a unique building. At the beginning of this year, we entered the international competition. At the end of last year, we won a Chinese design competition. There were a lot of famous foreign firms competing, but we won, so that gave us confidence.

-What competition was that?

-It was Shengwu Island in Guangzhou. The Sun Plaza, a triangular building floating above the island. It came from a concept we had been developing.

-Then we decided we wanted to enter a foreign competition. We saw this (Canadian) one on the internet. It interested us, so we entered it. From there, everything went very smoothly. After we entered, they selected six finalists from around the world. From the beginning, ours seemed to be the most popular. All the local newspapers highlighted our design. With big pictures in their coverage. It was nicknamed “Marilyn Monroe” building by a critic during the competition. Two months later, we refined the design, then we won.

-Why did they come up with that name? Because it looked her legs?

It looked like her body.

-When you designed it, were you already thinking that?

-I was thinking in those terms. It wasn’t exactly Marilyn Monroe or a women’s body. I just knew I didn't want it to be a box-like structure. I wanted to do an irregular twisting type of form.

-When I first came to China, I thought the architecture was terribly unsophisticated, without international influences. Now that has changed completely. Why do you think it changed so fast? I feel like it happened quite suddenly.

-This change is not only in architecture. It’s also affecting for example, fine arts and economy. So many things are changing quickly. But these changes manifest themselves in different forms. People often don’t really care about the background and history of these forms. So here it is possible to do anything.

-What do you think is the biggest problem facing Chinese architecture?

-I think of the foreign architects coming to China. Most of them are not very good. The problem is not that the market isn’t open. -And if you look at, for example (architects) Herzog and Koolhaas; many of these foreign architects are –excellent. But they can only design a few buildings, one or two in a city. Most projects go to commercial firms. They can’t assign a good architect to each project or else make constructive and creative works. Even more cities are impacted by Chinese architects. These architects don’t have time or don’t have the ability to do proper research or to properly understand their own culture and problems in society, so many projects do not have any connection with society. I think that is a big problem. It’s a two-part problem. One is the big, commercial foreign firms, the other is the local architects. This is the Hongluo Club (located in Huairou, Suburban Beijing), very difficult to build, a small house but very complex.

-Was it expensive to build?

-Not too bad, not too bad.

-Thanks a lot Ma Yansong. Good luck to you. There are many challenges for Chinese architects in the future.