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Architects: MAD Architects
- Year: 2018
- Photographs: Chunhui Zhao, Fangfang Tian, Dongdong Zhou
Text description provided by the architects. MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, presents its model for the “home of the future” on the occasion of the 2018 China House Vision Exhibition. “Living Garden”, conceived in partnership with Hanergy, breaks down the boundaries between interior and exterior, giving inhabitants the feeling that they are living in nature.
Defying notions of the traditional home, where walls and roofs form boundaries, MAD’s design envisions an “en-plein-air” atmosphere. A curved, floating roof slopes downwards. Its grid-like structure is layered with translucent, waterproof glass that while protecting the ‘interior’ from the rain, also provides natural ventilation, and allows sunlight to flood inside. Hanergy solar panels are strategically placed above. The angle of each is such that it harnesses maximum amounts of sunlight to provide power throughout the home. Collectively, they generate enough electric energy to power the daily consumption of a family of three. Maintaining an openness towards the sky and its surroundings, “Living Garden” sees life, (solar) energy, and nature coincide, seamlessly blending together to create an architectural ‘living’ landscape – one that emphasizes humanity’s emotional connection with nature.
The 2018 China House Vision Exhibition teams 10 international architecture firms with 10 innovative companies to create their ideal ‘home of the future’ in the form of a 1:1 scale pavilion. Initiated by Japanese graphic designer and curator Kenya Hara, House Vision is a cultural research project that seeks to use the “home” as a medium to consider the possibilities of future living. Having already had editions in Tokyo, the 2018 exhibition is the first one abroad, and showcases10 diverse living environments that address future living in China, through the cross-collaboration of different disciplines: architecture, design, technology, manufacturing etc.
