Clover House, A Homelike Kindergarten by MAD

The Clover House is a kindergarten that feels like home. Due to limited land area the owner of a local kindergarten decided to renovate his own family house transforming the original private nursery into a fully developed education institution. Clover House differentiates itself from traditional kindergartens by fully embracing its role as a shelter—a haven for education during the day and a home in the evening. The kindergarten’s homelike environment supports Clover House’s fully open teaching methodology, through which the children can build emotional bonds and trust among one another. During the day, children and teachers can eat, study, communicate, rest and play as if they were at a home. At night, the house reverts back to be the living space for the owner’s family and the school teachers.

Site plan. Clover House by MAD. Image © MAD.

The transformation started with an investigation of the existing 105 sqm two-story house. Like the surrounding houses, this wood structure building was first constructed as standard mass-production housing. After on-site surveys, MAD decided to reutilize the existing wood structure, incorporating it into the new building’s design. One of the signature repurposed elements is the pitched roof, which not only creates dynamic interior spaces, but also brings the owner’s memories of the building as his home into this residence and the starting point of the clover house.

The clover house will be completed in December 2015.

Description of the project by MAD

The new house’s skin and structure wraps the old wood structure like a piece of cloth covering the building’s skeleton, creating a blurry space in between the new and the old. The original wood structure is present throughout the main learning area, integrating the history of the building with the educational lessons to tell the students Clover House’s traditions and stories. Its translucent and enclosed spaces easily adapt to different teaching activities. Sunlight sifts through the windows to create ever-changing shadows, chasing the students’ curiosity and innocent imaginations.

Located next to rice paddy fields, the Clover House’s form brings to mind a mystical cave and a pop-up fort. Compared to the original assembly-line residence, the new 3D wood structure presents a much more organic and dynamic form to host the kindergarten. The facade and roof utilize common soft roofing materials asphalt single to provide waterproofing, while wrapping up the whole structure in a sheath of paper-like pieces. After the building is completed, each piece of “paper” will become the canvas for children to draw and create on, extending their memories of the Clover House.

CREDITS.-

Directors.- Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano, Dang Qun.
Design Team.- Takahiro Yonezu, Yukan Yanagawa, Hiroki Fujino, Julian Sattler, Davide Signorato.
Client.- Kentaro Nara, Tamaki Nara.
Constructor.- Kira Construction INC.
Structural Engineer.- Takuo Nagai.
Dates.- 2012-2015.
Status.- En construcción.
Site Area.- 283.28 m2.
Built Area.- 133.76 m2.
Total Area.- 299.63 m2.
Location.- Okazaki, Aichi, Japón.

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Model. Clover House by MAD. Image © MAD.

Model's interior. Clover House by MAD. Image © MAD.

Maqueta. Clover House por MAD. Imagen © MAD.

Longitudinal section. Clover House by MAD.

Exterior view of the plot. Clover House by MAD.

Exterior view. Clover House by MAD. Image © MAD.

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More information

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

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.

Published on: May 19, 2015

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