MAD Architects Design Panoramic Viewpoint for Fenix Warehouse

MAD Architects has been commissioned by the Droom en Daad Foundation to design a panoramic viewpoint on top of the historic Fenix warehouse in Rotterdam. The images unveiled by MAD represents its first public cultural project in Europe, which sees them tasked with uncovering the forgotten history of what was once one of the biggest warehouses in the world.

Rendering, exterior view. Panoramic viewpoint for Fenix warehouse by MAD Architects. Image by SAN

The viewpoint is to form part of a restoration project of the historic warehouse itself, to be led by Rotterdam-based Bureau Polderman. The scheme is situated on the site of one of the oldest Chinatowns in Europe, on the southern banks of the port of Rotterdam.

China and Katendrecht

The site is on the Katendrecht peninsula, located on the southern banks in the port of Rotterdam, and was once home to one of the oldest Chinatowns in Europe. Around the 1900’s it was here that one could find opium kits and that the first Chinese restaurant opened its doors in the Netherlands, and possibly in Europe. By choosing MAD Architects for this project, this forgotten part of history will be brought to life once more.

The commissioning of this platform on top of the Fenix warehouse signifies the first public cultural building in Europe to be designed by a Chinese architectural agency. In addition to the platform, MAD will design a theatric staircase and a public atrium in the Fenix warehouse which will merge the ground and first floors with the observation deck on the roof. The Fenix warehouse was once one of the biggest warehouses in the world. In the future, the first floor will be used to highlight Rotterdam’s history of migration. Millions of migrants left Europe from these embankments, most of whom had Ellis Island as their final destination. Upon completion, the Fenix will be a place where a human face will be put to these stories.

"We are proud to realize a dynamic transformation of the historical warehouse that will encourage people to move through the space, and be enjoyed by the community. It will lift body and mind, and be a place of pleasure and contemplation. The Fenix will inspire wonder and exploration about the past, the present, and the future."

Ma Yansong, Founder of MAD Architects

Renderings of the vision comes after MAD began construction on a Floating Kindergarten above a historic Beijing courtyard.

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Rendering, interior view. Panoramic viewpoint for Fenix warehouse by MAD Architects. Image by MIR

Concept Sketch by Ma Yansong. Panoramic viewpoint for Fenix warehouse by MAD Architects

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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 Chinese architect, founder and principal partner of MAD Architects. He graduated from the Beijing University 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. Before founding MAD in Beijing in 2004, he began his professional career at Zaha Hadid's studio.

He has taught at the University of Southern California, Tsinghua University, and Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture.

Since the founding of MAD in 2004, his works in architecture and art have been widely published and exhibited. His work also extends to exhibitions, publishing, product design and art, while his architectural practice has consistently explored the relationship between the built environment, landscape and nature.

Ma Yansong was awarded the 2006 Architecture League Young Architects Award. In 2008, he was selected as one of twenty influential young architects by ICON magazine, and Fast Company named him one of the ten most creative people in architecture in 2009. In 2010, he received the RIBA International Fellowship. In 2025, he was included in TIME's annual TIME100 list of the world's most influential people and curated the China Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2026, he was appointed international Guest Editor of Domus and elected an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (Hon. FAIA).

“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: November 24, 2018

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metalocus, ÁNGEL TORNE

"MAD Architects Design Panoramic Viewpoint for Fenix Warehouse" METALOCUS. Accessed

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