International firms invited by MAD to design “Huaxi City Centre” in China

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MAD recently organized a collaborative masterplanning project in South West China. Ten young international architects were invited to take part in an urban experiment, to design a new city centre on a scenic natural site close to the city of Guiyang. The participating architects were: Atelier Manferdini (USA), BIG (DENMARK), Dieguez Fridman (ARGENTINA), EMERGENT/Tom Wiscombe (USA), HouLiang Architecture (CHINA), JDS (DENMARK/BELGIUM), (CHINA), Mass Studies (KOREA), Rojkind Arquitectos (MEXICO), Serie (UK/INDIA), Sou Fujimoto Architects (JAPAN).

Seen on designboom.

Images after the break.

 
 
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birdie says:

sou fujimoto steals the show!

 
# February 17, 2009 at 20:12
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belly says:

madness…..

 
# February 17, 2009 at 21:32
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Katsudon says:

Wow Catastrophic! Some people forgot the meaning of being an architect to take the opportunity to be a star here!
Or maybe the goal of the experiment was precisely to show how silly it is to put a CBD in the most beautiful rice fields of China? Yeah! Destroy man! Skintecture is boring!

 
# February 17, 2009 at 22:18
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Improf says:

I bet when you are invited, you would have a totally different perspective. Katsudon.

 
# February 18, 2009 at 00:33
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YS says:

Do you think the Serie’s project looks like another version of MVRDV’s Silicon Hill? …
(Silicon Hill:http://hn.ihned.cz/c1-23049990-ktera-chobotnice-byla-prvni)

 
# February 18, 2009 at 01:17
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dave says:

YS–Serie’s project looks more like a colorless version of Future System’s library for Prague, no?

 
# February 18, 2009 at 02:13
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SL says:

dave is right,it’s more like that.And Houliang’s project looks familiar too.

 
# February 18, 2009 at 05:47
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louisa says:

ugliet clusters of monsterous forms ever existed.
Please don’t pollute china and No more eye soar in china!!!!!
don’t place your ugliest in our country

 
# February 18, 2009 at 07:02
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Ceno says:

agree.. this is horrible, an elementary school kid could do this too

 
# February 18, 2009 at 07:53
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tommi says:

Houliang’s proposal looks very similar to JDS’s Big Brother House of ordos 100.

http://www.dezeen.com/2008/10/07/big-brother-house-by-jds-architects/

 
# February 18, 2009 at 08:22
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simon says:

Most of the projects here I’m sure have merit within their own individual investigations. However all of them seem to have completely ignored some fundamental considerations that are critical to being good architecture, or good development. In their own egotistical effort centralized on individual investigations that are exclusive of both the site and each other, they’ve managed to effectively destroy another beautiful piece of China and turn it into a pile of children’s toys. I mean, jimi hendrix is amazing, but you can’t make a band from a dozen jimi hendrixs.

 
# February 18, 2009 at 09:05
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chicago-g says:

a very good example that “architect” tends to design only for image, for getting attention, for surprsing people. MAD started with copying ZAHA, and has not changed yet so far. not a surprise such a event organised by them ends up like a disaster.

 
# February 18, 2009 at 10:23
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Simon says:

It’s a speculative project, simon et al. Nothing has been destroyed. I think at this time, projects of improvisation are very necessary. In a previous recession, and before he became the wise old man of the blogs, Woods had detractors flashing knives at his floating city drawings.

 
# February 18, 2009 at 10:44
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Keomi says:

This disaster of a masterplan is the result of too many architects and no landscape architects, urban designers, planners and yes even engineers! For a sensible masterplan you need a multidisciplinary team lead by someone who understands the site, not a collection of egos trying to out-do each other. (Simon’s Jimi Hendrix annalogy is perfect.)

 
# February 18, 2009 at 18:45
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Xing says:

a perfect destroy when crazy masses meet up with the agriculture contours.

 
# February 18, 2009 at 21:46
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mmedinah22 says:

Very amazing project.Nice to see something from Rojkind Arquitectos

 
# February 19, 2009 at 02:52
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xxx says:

wow, what a waste of webspace. who wants to see this kind of “architecture”. total lack of masterplan or open space. the buildings themself all second or third grade student work. sometimes it would be better to have eiter skill or spend some work or effort on projects rather than knocking them out on a daily basis. freakish stuff. this dineylandish approach to architecture has reached the young hot guys and third grade architects. think of ordos 100, busan, now that. it’s getting worse and worse. looks like a graveyard for ugly towers.

while real architecture firms are collapsing all over the world and people are sacked in the thousands every months we need to see how the big players turn worse and worse (check zahas and coop himmelb(l)au’s latest schemes if you want) and now those silly project mock and ridicule our education. maya can’t save the world guys, and rhino won’t either.

architecture is going the wrong way. maybe we all need a crash to re-evaluate and rethink our profession.

 
# February 19, 2009 at 21:27
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    Goag says:

    i totally agree……

     
    # August 14, 2009 at 19:21
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Al says:

geez…. this is ridiculous. these aren’t amazing projects and I don’t understand how this collaboration responds to the challenges of building in China or even functions as a masterplan. If this is the work and vision of young architects at their most imaginative and free-thinking, our profession has something to worry about. Not even nice eye candy in most proposals… pure self ingratiation. You participating ‘architects’ should really reexamine your motivations.

 
# February 20, 2009 at 14:54
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Juan says:

I do really like Rojkind Arquitectos, not this project…

 
# February 20, 2009 at 16:21
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flip says:

i think that, its too much for a communist country..

 
# February 23, 2009 at 04:06
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Danny says:

This is a bad copy of an idea of a chinese garden which was given before by an Iranian designer ( Habibeh Madjdabadi ) in MOCAPE Shenzhen Competition

 
# March 3, 2009 at 01:56
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Alan says:

Most of these projects are just an insult to the landscape…
what happened to the 3500 years of China’s history? I bet none of these ‘architects’ had a look through China’s culture, history… What worries me the most is that most of cities around the world are starting to look like this ! I think our planet should be called ‘planet dump’ instead !

On a positive side, there are a few of them worth having a closer look. The proposals by Serie and mass studies are interesting in my opinion, they both have a better gesture towards the landscape but still have a lot to improve !

 
# March 4, 2009 at 22:49
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zhang ruizhi says:

so disappointed to look at this kind

 
# March 1, 2011 at 07:07
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norman phung says:

It is so irresponsible. I supposed by now we would have expected that from MAD. When will architects stand up and say no to developers doing project such as theses? Go dense in urban areas and waste any more of fertile land.

 
# November 15, 2011 at 05:06
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2:22 AM Feb 18th

An urban experiment, to design a new city centre close to Guiyang in China called “Huaxi City Centre”: http://is.gd/jVV0 Nice.

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11:35 AM May 31st

Reading: "International firms invited by MAD to design “Huaxi City Centre” in China | ArchDaily"( http://twitthis.com/7w35fv )

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8:22 AM Sep 15th

Nothing more to say – except – I wanna be there ;) http://t.co/0ftgNj8W

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8:09 AM Jan 31st

International firms invited by MAD to design “Huaxi City Centre” in China | ArchDaily http://t.co/5ZixkuH4 via @archdaily

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