Blurring the boundary in a surreal way. Amazing Walk by MAD / Ma Yansong

MAD Architects / Ma Yansong has featured its latest "Amazing Walk" installation set at the Cortile della Farmacia courtyard of the University of Milan during Milan Design Week 2024.

According to the architects, "Amazing Walk" seeks to “blur the boundary between built and natural environments in a surreal way.” The internal space column-free, standing 7.5 meters tall, was formed with triangular elements configured to reflect “the shape of mountains.”

Amazing Walk by MAD / Ma Yansong. Photograph by Moreno Maggi.

This open design by MAD Architects / Ma Yansong is constructed from an aluminium alloy covered in a semi-reflective, transparent membrane, allowing a visual connection with the 100-year-old courtyard. The resulting volume offers varying visuals under different lighting conditions; at night, lights and mist blur the edges of the materials to give the illusion that the pavilion is floating.

The “Amazing Walk” pavilion offers varying visuals under different lighting conditions, reflecting light uniquely during the day and at night.

“This open design invites exploration and imagination, offering visitors the chance to connect and immerse themselves in the beauty of their surroundings,” MAD Architects said about the pavilion. “Numerous virtual reality applications enhance this installation, offering a deeply engaging experience that brings surreal elements to life.”

The project marks the seventh time MAD has participated in the event.

"Fifth Ring", 2018. Photograph courtesy of MAD Architects.

"Invisible Border", 2016. Photograph by Moreno Maggi.

Momentun by MAD Architects, 2023. Photograph by Moreno Maggi.

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More information

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Architects

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MAD Architects / Ma Yansong.

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Design team

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Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano, Andrea D'Antrassi, Giovanni Colombara, Alessandro Fisalli , Paolo Pirri, Gianluca Rovere, Luca Genualdo.

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Collaborators

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Lighting.- Artemide.
Structure.- Maco Technology.
Natural Fogt.- Nephos.

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Client / Partners

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Amazon.it, Interni.

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Area / Dimensions

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7.5 meters.

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Dates

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From 15 to 21 April, 2024.

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Location

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Università degli Studi di Milano (courtyard). Via Festa del Perdono 7 - Milan, Italy.

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Photography

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Composite Film.- Giovanardi.
Photographer.- Moreno Maggi.
Video.- Amazon Photos.

Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano. MAD

mad is a Beijing-based architecture design office dedicated to creating innovative projects. Founded by Ma Yansong in 2004, MAD Architects is led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, and Yosuke Hayano. It is committed to developing futuristic, organic, technologically advanced designs that embody a contemporary interpretation of the Eastern affinity for nature. With a vision for the city of the future based on the spiritual and emotional needs of residents, MAD endeavours to create a balance between humanity, the city, and the environment.

MAD's projects encompass urban planning, urban complexes, municipal buildings, museums, theatres, concert halls, and housing, as well as art and design. Their projects are located in China, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. In 2006, MAD won the design competition for the Absolute Towers in Mississauga, Canada. Through this, MAD became the first Chinese architecture firm to build a significant high-rise project abroad. In 2014, MAD was selected as the principal designer for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, USA, becoming the first China-based architecture firm to design an overseas cultural landmark. MAD’s signature cultural projects include Ordos Museum (2011, China), Harbin Opera House (2015, China), Tunnel of Light (2018, Japan), China Philharmonic Concert Hall (under construction), Yiwu Grand Theater (under construction), FENIX Museum of Migration in Rotterdam (under construction), Cloudscape of Haikou (2021, China), and Shenzhen Bay Culture Square (under construction). Other urban projects include the Clover House kindergarten (2015, Japan), Chaoyang Park Plaza (2017, China), China Entrepreneur Forum Conference Centre (2021, China), Jiaxing Train Station (under construction), Quzhou Sports Campus (under construction), and Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center (under construction), among others.

While practising architecture, MAD documents and discusses its reflections on architecture, culture, and arts through publications, architectural exhibitions, as well as academic lectures and presentations. MAD’s publications include Mad Dinner, Bright City, MA YANSONG: From (Global) Modernity to (Local) Tradition, Shanshui City, and MAD X. MAD has organized and participated in several contemporary art and design exhibitions, including MAD X, a solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in 2019; Shanshui City, at UCCA in 2014; Feelings are Facts, a spatial experience exhibition with artist Ólafur Eliasson at UCCA in 2010; and MAD in China, a solo exhibition at the Danish Architectural Center, Copenhagen in 2007. MAD has participated in significant exhibitions at several iterations of the Venice Architecture Biennale and Milan Design Week. MAD has also participated in exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Copenhagen), and MAXXI (Rome). An array of MAD’s architecture models have been acquired by the Centre Pompidou and M+ Museum (Hong Kong) as part of their permanent collections.

MAD has offices in Beijing (China), Jiaxing (China), Los Angeles (USA), and Rome (Italy).

Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano and Qun Dand.

MA YANSONG

Ma Yansong is a Beijing-born architect (1975) recognized as an important voice in a new generation of architects. 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 master's degree in Architecture from Yale.

He shares his knowledge as an adjunct professor at the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tsinghua University, and the University of Southern California. Ma Yansong's journey is a continuous narrative unfolding, exploring innovation and pushing the boundaries of what we perceive as the built environment.

Since the founding of MAD in 2004, his works in architecture and art have been widely published and exhibited. 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.

Photograph by Daniel J.Allen

Published on: April 19, 2024

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metalocus, ANTONIO CORREDERA

"Blurring the boundary in a surreal way. Amazing Walk by MAD / Ma Yansong" METALOCUS. Accessed

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