A “white stone garden". New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD

MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, has unveiled its design for a new multipurpose development, the Aranya “Cloud Center”, is taking shape in Qinhuangdao, China.

A “floating cloud by the sea” plan designed by MAD, unveiled this week, is a new multi-purpose public space with a a variety of functions and sculptured landscapes imagined as a “white stone garden".

Visualization. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Having already broken ground in March, residents of the region will soon enjoy a new center for conferences, performances, and more housed in a flexible columnless interior space complete with a theater space wrapped in a unique white stained glass facade.

The proposed building designed by MAD is situated near the scenic Beidaihe coastline in northeastern China. From a distance, it appears as though the building is a "cloud floating in the forest". The structure's polished white-stained glass exterior reflects the sunlight, sky, and landscape, changing light and color with respect to its surroundings. At its entrance, visitors are met with a reflective pool amidst the lush landscape.

Viewed from above, the project’s footprint takes on a futuristic shape thanks to a white boundary wall and undulated landscape with painted rocks meant to resemble interstellar constellations.

The floating effect is supported by a series of structural overhangs, with some reaching 30 meters high. The cloud’s mass is balanced and suspended from the building’s central core, which provides support for the entire structure and its open plan column-free interior. A low circular wall surrounds the building's exterior, forming a tranquil landscape that "detaches visitors from reality".

A series of skylights hangs over the building’s interior, aiming to give users the impression that they have been transported skyward and are now working in a cloud.

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Sketch. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Site plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Ground floor plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Floor plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Program. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Roof plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Section. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Sections. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

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Architects MAD

MAD Office, Beijing, China. MAD is a Beijing-based architecture design office dedicated to creating innovative projects. The firm combines a sophisticated design philosophy with advanced technology in addressing and furthering issues in contemporary architecture and urbanity.

The firm has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2006 Architectural League of New York's Young Architects Forum Award.

MAD's ongoing projects include the international competition-winning Absolute Tower in Toronto, Canada; The Tianjin Sinosteel International Plaza, a 320M tall tower in Tianjin, China; the Mongolian Museum in Inner Mongolia, China, and a private villa in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The firm has also won numerous international design competitions, including the 2006 Absolute Tower Competition in Toronto; the 2005 Solar Plaza Competition in Guangzhou, China, and the 2004 Shanghai National Software Outsourcing Base.

MAD's work has been published worldwide, and the office has also presented its designs in a series of exhibitions. In 2006, MAD was shown at the ‘MAD in China' exhibition in Venice during the Architecture Biennial, and the ‘MAD Under Construction' exhibition at the Tokyo Gallery in Beijing. In March of 2007, MAD will be shown at ‘MAD.exe' an exhibition at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano and Qun Dand.

MA YANSONG

Beijing-born architect Ma Yansong is recognized as an important voice in a new generation of architects. Since the founding of MAD in 2004, his works in architecture and art have been widely published and exhibited. He graduated from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture. Ma attended Yale University after receiving the American Institute of Architects Scholarship for Advanced Architecture Research in 2001 and holds a masters degree in Architecture from Yale. He has since taught architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Ma Yansong was awarded the 2006 Architecture League Young Architects Award. In 2008 he was selected as one of the twenty most influential Young Architects today by ICON magazine and Fast Company named him one of the ten most creative people in architecture in 2009. In 2010 he became the first architect from China to receive a RIBA fellowship.

“I work with emotion and with the context. When I design a building, I close my eyes and feel as if I saw a virtual world which lays half way between the city, the nature and the land. It goes from large scale to small scale. Many things travel in front of my eyes; I feel them and try to find the way to express my feelings. The language I use is the least important of it all. It does not matter whether they are straight lines, curves... I only intend for people to feel the same or to find something unexpected” says Ma Yansong. “MAD is an attitude, a posture towards architecture, towards society. Through our work we want people to be inspired by a place through local nature, time and space”, he states.

Photo © Daniel J.Allen