Photographer: Fang Zhenning | ArchDaily

Centre Pompidou Acquires 12 Architectural Models by MAD Architects

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 09:00:00 +0000

The Centre Pompidou in Paris has acquired 12 architectural models by MAD Architects, depicting 10 significant projects undertaken by the firm. Each model embodies MAD’s core values that “look to envisioning a futuristic architecture that is akin to dream-like earthscapes – one that creates a conversation with nature, the earth, and the sky.”

“A Building Created Just to Perform a Particular Function is a Dead Building”: Pei Zhu of Studio Zhu-Pei

Vladimir Belogolovsky — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Since the early 2000s, China consistently has been surprising the world as the playground for international superstar architects’ most daring creations. It still does so, but the element of surprise is gone, and with increased concern for building more pragmatically, resourcefully, and overall responsibly, we are much more critical of these spectacular buildings. The script has been flipped: it is the architecture that is produced locally, with humility and social relevance, that attracts attention these days. Nowhere is this process more evident than in China, where the projects led by homegrown talent are by far the most relevant and meaningful architecture that is being built in the country today.

Ma Yansong: “Some People May Say My Work Is Futuristic, But I See It as Traditional”

Vladimir Belogolovsky — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 09:30:00 +0000

With the unconventional, undulating forms of his buildings—and the fact that his path to architectural success included a stint working for Zaha Hadid—Ma Yansong is often miscategorized as an architect of the latter generation of Deconstructivists, interested only in futuristic forms that push the boundaries of technology for the sake of innovation as an end in itself. But in fact Ma’s designs, especially those in his home country of China, are deeply rooted in nature and tradition, as he explains in the latest interview from Vladimir Belogolovsky’s “City of Ideas” series.

An Interview with Zhu Pei, Pei-Zhu Studio

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 10:30:57 +0000

“If we look at architecture from a cultural point of view, we see we are in a special moment where we are trying to figure out our identity. I think we are too focused on how to transform old Chinese architecture into contemporary architecture; but in no way can you transform it, you can see it with your own eyes. For instance you cannot transform a Roman building into today’s buildings! Sometimes you have to forget about history to create contemporary and unique architecture.”
- Zhu Pei, Beijing, 2013