A “white stone garden". New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD

MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, has unveiled its design for a new multipurpose development, the Aranya “Cloud Center”, is taking shape in Qinhuangdao, China.

A “floating cloud by the sea” plan designed by MAD, unveiled this week, is a new multi-purpose public space with a a variety of functions and sculptured landscapes imagined as a “white stone garden".

Visualization. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Having already broken ground in March, residents of the region will soon enjoy a new center for conferences, performances, and more housed in a flexible columnless interior space complete with a theater space wrapped in a unique white stained glass facade.

The proposed building designed by MAD is situated near the scenic Beidaihe coastline in northeastern China. From a distance, it appears as though the building is a "cloud floating in the forest". The structure's polished white-stained glass exterior reflects the sunlight, sky, and landscape, changing light and color with respect to its surroundings. At its entrance, visitors are met with a reflective pool amidst the lush landscape.

Viewed from above, the project’s footprint takes on a futuristic shape thanks to a white boundary wall and undulated landscape with painted rocks meant to resemble interstellar constellations.

The floating effect is supported by a series of structural overhangs, with some reaching 30 meters high. The cloud’s mass is balanced and suspended from the building’s central core, which provides support for the entire structure and its open plan column-free interior. A low circular wall surrounds the building's exterior, forming a tranquil landscape that "detaches visitors from reality".

A series of skylights hangs over the building’s interior, aiming to give users the impression that they have been transported skyward and are now working in a cloud.

Read less

Sketch. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Site plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Ground floor plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Floor plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Program. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Roof plan. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Section. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Sections. New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD. Image courtesy MAD Architects

View more images

Metalocus recommends

Renovation and museumization of "Laderas del Castillo" by Rocamora. Photograph by Miguel Ángel Mira

Renovation and museumization of the Archaeological Site "Laderas del Castillo" by Rocamora

House of the French canoeing, kayak and paddle sports federation by Le Studio Sanna Baldé. Photograph by Clément Guillaume

Responsible landmark. French canoeing, kayak and paddle sports federation house by Le Studio Sanna Baldé

Cárpatos by por Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos. Photograph by Rafael Gamo

Steel and glass in a foggy forest. Cárpatos by por Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos

More information

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: July 7, 2021

Cite: "A “white stone garden". New Aranya 'Cloud Center' by MAD" METALOCUS. Accessed

<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/a-white-stone-garden-new-aranya-cloud-center-mad> ISSN 1139-6415