It's beach time and festivals, and the architect Ma Yansong has been commissioned to project "The City of Time", the support to design the work of 300 artists from different fields invited to "Migratory Birds 300" (a residence for artists from 300 hours) on the occasion of the Aranya Theater Festival.

The project includes shows, installations, sculptures, body art, performing arts, paintings, and videos, all located in Aranya, China.

The space brings together 300 artists, 131 group works, and 194 works where a creative refuge is offered to the guests and, in turn, a cultural festival for those who visit it. A small fantasy city by the sea is built, with adequate support to develop the essence of theater and art.
"The City of Time" designed by Ma Yansong, is organized around an axis perpendicular to the sea, in which ellipse groups together different spaces, venues, and settings without decoration, all articulated by a central circle around which an interesting organic labyrinth to collect the works of artists.

The structure emerges from the sand with its own color, creating a route where new artistic projects are discovered, managing to generate an attractive set of experiences with which the visitor discovers and experiences art. Participants include conceptual painter Wang Guangle, visual artist Xiang Jing, and sculptor Liu Huanzhang.

The city of time for the Aranya Theater Festival by Ma Yansong. Image courtesy by Aranya Theater Festival, MAD Architects Qi Ziying.

The city of time for the Aranya Theater Festival by Ma Yansong. Image courtesy by Aranya Theater Festival, MAD Architects Qi Ziying.
 

Project description by Ma Yansong

Taking up the metaphor of avian migration, Migratory Birds 300, a 300-hour artist residency, brings together 300 creators from diverse fields and backgrounds to congregate and co-create by the seaside of Anaya, China. Between June 12 and June 25, Ma Yansong’s The City of Time hosts 300 artists, 131 group works, and 194 works, including shows, installations, sculptures, body art, performance art, paintings, and videos.

The City of Time,
Dissolves after 300 hours.
Revolving around an axis perpendicular to the sea,
It offers a spiritual roost for creators.

In real cities,
The need for functionality suffocates spiritual spaces.
Building a fanciful city by the sea,
Allows the substance of theatre and art,
To breathe natural life into this space.

Taking flight and transcending reality,
It is a place dedicated to time, human behavior, and nature,
Inspiring contemplation on our relationships with ourselves and the world.


The city of time for the Aranya Theater Festival by Ma Yansong. Image courtesy by Aranya Theater Festival, MAD Architects Qi Ziying.

Migratory Birds 300 is perhaps the most romantic, imaginative, and polyphonic of the Aranya Theater Festival programs. As the most widely discussed public art residency project, it unfolds in two venues: Aranya, China, and Regent’s Canal in London, England. The value of Migratory Birds 300 lies not only in the gift of uninterrupted time for creating new work but also in the communal living and work space shared for 300 hours. The residency promotes novel cooperation between previously unacquainted artists, encouraging creators to push the boundaries of their work and complete innovative group works.

More information

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Architects
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MAD architects. Architect.- Ma Yansong.
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Project team
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Design Team.- Wang Yiqi, Yang Xuebing.
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Collaborators
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Aranya Theater Festival Shooting Team.
Zaiye studio.- Wang Zhen, Wang Yong, Chen Ying, An Chen, Hou Xuefei.
Silver salt photosynthesi.- Zhu Shi, Wang Zhe, Liu Xin.
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Dates
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From June 12 to 25, 2023.
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Location
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Qinhuangdao, Hebei, Chang Li, China.
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Photography
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Aranya Theater Festival, MAD Architects Qi Ziying.
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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

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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.

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Published on: June 27, 2023
Cite: "Artistic meeting point. The city of time for the Aranya Theater Festival by Ma Yansong" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/artistic-meeting-point-city-time-aranya-theater-festival-ma-yansong> ISSN 1139-6415
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