Land Art Festival. The Never Hut by Ma Yansong/MAD

The latest installation presented by Ma Yansong/MAD Architects at the 2024 Earth Art Festival is located in the more than 600-year-old historical village of Yanqiaoen, in the Nanhai district of Foshan City, China.

The project consists of a gathering space for the community, where they can reflect and imagine through cultural play activities, paying tribute to collective childhood memories.

The Never Hut by Ma Yansong/MAD Architects. Photograph by Zhu Yumeng.

Ma Yansong/MAD Architects draws inspiration from the Qing Dynasty era when designing this installation. The plot, formerly used as a playground for a local primary school, is transformed into a new artistic centrepiece for imagination and community, where collective childhood memories re-emerge.

The project, with a flying saucer-shaped structure, presents a circular, shaded space that interacts with the surroundings, creating relationships between moving and static activities. Thanks to its bright and playful colours, a contrast is created with the historical context, establishing a relationship between the past and the future.

The Never Hut by Ma Yansong/MAD Architects. Photograph by Tian Fangfang.

Project description by Ma Yansong/MAD Architects

Ma Yansong/MAD Architects has unveiled their latest installation, The Never Hut, at the Guangdong Nanhai Land Art Festival 2024 in Yanqiao Village, Nanhai District, Foshan City. Balancing cultural narratives with playful imagination, the design creates a space that inspires reflection and shared connections.

“This project is about capturing the freedom and wonder of childhood while providing a space for the community to gather, reflect, and imagine what lies ahead.”

Ma Yansong.

Nestled in the heart of a historic village with over 600 years of history, the project transforms a site that was once a beloved playground for a local elementary school. By reimagining this space, MAD pays tribute to the collective childhood memories of the community while breathing new life and purpose into its surroundings.

La cabaña del nunca jamás por MAD Architects. Fotografía por Zhu Yumeng. — The Never Hut by Ma Yansong/MAD Architects. Photograph by Zhu Yumeng.

Yanqiao Village’s iconic Qing Dynasty-era architecture, meandering river systems, and the majestic banyan tree at its entrance served as inspiration for the installation. The Never Hut, a striking flying saucer-shaped structure supported by three "tentacles" crafted from local fishing nets, engages with its environment by responding to the breeze, creating a lively interplay between motion and stillness.

Under its wide, colorful eaves, The Never Hut provides a shaded, circular space for rest, interaction, and connection. Its bright, playful hues contrast with the historic backdrop, forging a vibrant dialogue between past and present.

The Never Hut serves as both a functional space and an artistic centerpiece, designed to encourage community engagement. Visitors can enjoy moments of daily life, whether catching a refreshing breeze, reflecting on the village’s heritage, or marveling at the interplay of art and nature.

"The Never Hut is a celebration of imagination and community a space where childhood memories find a new home."

Ma Yansong.

This installation builds on MAD’s earlier work in Nanhai District, including the celebrated "Timeless Beacon," which has been on display at Taiping Market since 2022 as part of the "Art at Qiaoshan" series at the Guangdong Nanhai Land Art Festival.

The Never Hut is now open to the public as part of the Guangdong Nanhai Land Art Festival 2024, welcoming villagers and visitors alike to experience its imaginative blend of art, culture, and community.

The Never Hut by Ma Yansong/MAD Architects. Photograph by Tian Fangfang.

Timeless Beacon (2023) by Ma Yansong. Photograph by Lu Yu.

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More information

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Architects

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MAD Architects. Lead architects.- Ma Yansong.

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Dates

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2024.

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Location

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Nanhai, Foshan, China.

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Photography

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Tian Fangfang, Zhu Yumeng.

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: December 13, 2024

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