© MAD

The curvaceous undulating towers designed by MAD Architects for Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, Canada, are under construction. Set for completion in 2011, the towers mark the architects’ first international win back in 2006.  Located at the intersection of two main streets, the towers serve as a gateway to the city beyond. The textured band-like facade is created by a continuous balcony that wraps the entire building . The building is also shifted off its core by varying degrees to provide views of the surrounding scenery, keeping city dwellers attune to the natural environment.  The architects explained, “This building is more than just a functional machine: it responds to the significance of being located at the junction of two main streets, elegantly bearing its landmark status and acting as a gateway to the city beyond. It is something beautiful, sculptural and human.”

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© ShuHe

Architects: MAD
Location: Beijing, China
Director in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun
Design Team: Dai Pu, Yu Kui, Stefanie Helga Paul, He Wei, Shen Jianghai
Type: Courtyard Renovation
Construction Engineers: Beijing Nade Environmental Art Design Co., Ltd.
Construction Cost: 400,000RMB
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: ShuHe, Fang Zhenning & Daniele Dainelli

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© MAD

Another proposal for “Contemplating the void” (all the proposals featured at ArchDaily here).

Entitled “State Fair Guggenheim”, the proposal by Chinese firm MAD uses a floating habitable balloon, located at the top of the void, to mediate between interior/exterior:

“As the core of the museum, the spiraling rotunda inherits the classic relationship between human and the divine. The delicately glazed domed roof transforms the natural light into distilled radiance, allowing the visitors to feel the distance from the mystical, and reverence to the sublime. Wright designed the continuous ramp encouraging visitors to ascend, becoming closer to the light with each step; however, one would find himself bounded by the glass ceiling at the top of the ramp. The anti-climactic ending to this experience seems to hint at advancement to the future of this rotunda. ”

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MAD Architects’ latest contribution to Shenzhen came in the form of two huge monster footprints.  The design, made for the Urbanism\Architecture Shenzhen & Hongkong Bi-city Biennale, is a sunken space that functions as a playground.  Paved in pink EPDM material, the Monster’s Footprint attempts to enter a very “surreal reality”, and offer a possibility for city dwellers to find their own freedom and joy in the Citizen Square.  The playful space illustrates MAD ‘s ability to bring their design attitude to smaller scale projects.

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MAD Architects shared their recently completed design for the Taichung Convention Center with us.  Conceived as “a continuous weave of architecture and landscape that blurs the boundary between architecture, public space and urban landscape, proposing a futuristic vision based on the East’s naturalistic philosophy,” the convention center is the first project in Taiwan commissioned by the Taichung city government.  The project is meant to surpass the traditional metropolitan landmark to become something that pushes Taichung “into the arena of world class cultural cities…. through unique architectural concepts and proposing a new kind of architectural philosophy.”

More about the convention center and more images after the break. read more »

Architects: MAD
Location: Beijing, China
Structural Engineers: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD)
Mechanical Engineers: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD)
Façade/cladding consultants: King General Engineering, SuP Ingenieure GmbH
Interior Designers: Lim.Teo + Wilkes Design Works Pte Ltd
Landscape Designer: Earthasia Design Group
Site Area: 7,779 sqm
Constructed Area: 56,994 sqm
Building height: 106 meters
Images: MAD

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Architects: MAD
Location: Erdos, Inner Mongolia
Director in Charge: Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano, Dang Qun
Design team: Shang Li, Andrew C. Bryant, Howard Jiho Kim, Matthias Helmreich , Zheng Tao, Qin Lichao, Yang Lin, Sun Jieming Yin Zhao , Du Zhijian
Collaborators: China Institute of Building Standard Design and Research, The Institute of Shanxi Architectural Design and Research
Site Area: 27,760 sqm
Constructed Area: 41,227 sqm
Status: Under Construction
Client: Erdos Municipal Government
Images: MAD

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Architects: MAD
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Director in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun
Site Area: 4,392 sqm
Constructed Area: 50,000 sqm
Program: Office Headquarters
Client: Al Rostamini Group Ltd
Images: MAD

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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), MAD (CHINA), Mass Studies (KOREA), Rojkind Arquitectos (MEXICO), Serie (UK/INDIA), Sou Fujimoto Architects (JAPAN).

Seen on designboom.

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