Ma Yansong

Ma Yansong is the principal partner and founder of MAD Architects, a global design practice with offices located in Los Angeles, Rome, and Beijing. Renowned for his bold designs, Ma has led MAD in the creation of many significant structures around the world, including the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Harbin Opera House, Quzhou Stadium, FENIX Museum, The Yue Cheng Courtyard Kindergarten, Jiaxing Train Station, Shenzhen Bay Culture Square, One River North, and the Tunnel of Light. His design approach emphasizes a harmonious integration of urban landscapes, natural elements, and human experiences.

Early life and background Ma Yansong was born in Beijing in 1975. He holds a master's degree in Architecture from Yale University and a bachelor's degree from the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture. During his master's degree at Yale, he first received attention for his project "Floating Islands". Ma Yansong founded MAD Architects in 2004, and since then, has been internationally recognized. His influence extends across disciplines, including exhibitions, publications, product design, and the arts, reflecting a multidisciplinary vision that continues to shape global discourse.

Recent Recognition In 2025, Ma was named to the TIME100 list of the world's most influential people. That same year, he served as curator of the China Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, further cementing his role as a cultural voice on the international stage. In 2026, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded him “Honorary FAIA.”

Design philosophy: Shanshui City The famous Chinese scientist Qian Xuesen proposed the concept of "Shanshui City" in the 1980s. As the world's largest manufacturing base, a large number of soulless "shelf cities" appeared in contemporary China due to the lack of cultural spirit. Qian Xuesen pointed out that modern cities' worship of power and capital leads to maximization and utilitarianism. "Buildings in cities should not become living machines. Even the most powerful technology and tools can never endow the city with a soul." To Ma Yansong, Shanshui does not just refer to nature; it is also the individual's emotional response to the surrounding world. "Shanshui City" is a combination of city density, functionality, and the artistic conception of natural landscape. It aims at composing a future city that takes human spirit and emotion at their cores.

Signature Projects

Architecture Absolute Towers, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, 2006–2012, completed Best Tall Buildings Americas, CTBUH "Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat" No.1, Skyscraper Awards 2012, EMPORIS. Building of the Year 2012, ArchDaily. Ordos Museum, Ordos, China, 2005–2011, completed Best Museum, UED Winner of "Metal in Architecture", WAN Awards, 2014 Hongluo Clubhouse, Beijing, China, 2005–2006, completed Sino-steel International Plaza, Tianjin, China, 2006 Huangdu Art Center, Beijing, China, 2008 Hutong Bubble 32, Beijing, China, 2008–2009, completed Fake Hills, Beihai, China 2008–2015, under construction Best Architecture Multiple Residence, International Property Awards Harbin Opera House, Harbin, China, 2008–2015, completed Taichung Convention Center, Taiwan, 2009 Harbin China Wood Sculpture Museum, Harbin, China, 2009–2012, completed Huangshan Mountain Village, Huangshan, China, 2009–2016, under construction 2012 Top 10 Conceptual Architecture, Designboom Urban Forest, Chongqing, China, 2009 National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China, 2011 Pingtan Art Museum, Pingtan, China, 2011–2016 Chaoyang Park Mixed-use, Beijing, China, 2013–2016 D21 Chinese Architecture Design in 21st Century, Beijing Design Week Chinese Top 10 Buildings Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center, Nanjing, China, 2013–2017 Vertu, travelling Pavilion, Milan, Shanghai, Dubai, Beijing, London Beijing 2050, Beijing, China Rebuilt WTC, New York, USA 800m Tower, China Changsha Culture Park, Changsha, China KBH Kunsthal, Urban intervention, Copenhagen, Denmark Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, USA

Art Shanshui - Experiment - Complex, Shenzhen, China, 2013 Moon Landscape, Beijing, China, 2013 "Shanshui City" Exhibition, Beijing, China, 2013 "Shansui City" for Audi City, Beijing, China The Little Rock Fountain Journal "The Floating Earth" for Alessi Contemplating the Void in Guggenheim, New York, USA, 2009 Feelings are facts, Beijing, China, 2010 Monster's Footprint, Shenzhen, China, 2009 Superstar: A Mobile Chinatown (Uneternal City), Venice, Italy, 2008 Ink Ice, Beijing, China Fish Tank

Awards and honors 2026 Honorary Fellowship of American Institute of Architects (H.FAIA) 2025 TIME100 list of the world's most influential people 2023 Kalmanani National Architecture Award, Mexico 2020 AD100 China's most influential designers 2018 Prix Versailles World Judge 2016 40 Most Famous Architects of the 21st Century, Archute 2016 The World's Most Innovative People Awards, World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2016 Los Angeles "City Recognition" Medal 2015 Power 100, Surface Magazine 2015 Global Design Power, Interni Magazine 2015 Most Influential Chinese Architects, Forbes China Edition 2014 100 Most Creative People in Business, Fast Company 2014 Chaoyang Park Plaza: Chinese Top 10 Buildings 2014 Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort: No.3, Skyscraper Awards 2013, EMPORIS 2013 Designer of the Year, Good Design 2013 D21 Young Chinese Architect Award 2013 Emporis for the world's best new skyscraper (Absolute Towers) 2013 2nd Audi Arts and Design Award in the category Designer of the Year 2012 The Best New High-rise Building in the America's by the CTBUH "Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat", (Absolute Towers) 2012 International Property Awards (Fake Hills) 2011 UED museum award (Ordos Museum) 2011 RIBA International Fellowship 2011 Fast Company – one of 10 most innovative companies in China 2009 Fast Company – one of 10 creative people in architecture 2008 ICON magazine – one of 20 most influential young architects 2006 Architecture League Young Architects Award 2001 American Institute of Architects Scholarship for Advanced Architecture Research

Exhibitions 2025 Co-Exist: Pavilion of China, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy 2025 Ma Yansong: Architecture and Emotion, Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, Netherlands 2023 Ma Yansong: Landscape in Motion, Shenzhen Contemporary Art and Urban Planning Museum, Shenzhen, China 2022 Close-up – One Hundred Art Practices in Beautiful Chin”, China International Design Museum, Hangzhou, China 2022 Timeless Beacon, Nanhai Land Art Festival, China 2022 Dynamik Chair, Milan Design Week, Italy 2022 Shenzhen-Hong Kong City Architecture Biennale, Shenzhen, China 2022 Blueprint Beijing”, the architecture exhibition of the first Beijing Biennial (2022), China 2021 Art at FULIANG 2021, Jingdezhen, China 2021 NINE TIERED PAGODA – Spatial and Visual Magic, Shenzhen, China 2021 Light Hanxi Village Art Project, Jingdezhen, China 2021 2021 Chengdu Biennale, Tianfu Art Museum, Chengdu, China 2021 Rural Reconstruction in China -- The Practice of Art, Space and Place”, Jiangxi Academy of Fine Art Museum, Jingdezhen, China 2020 Design and the Wondrous”, Centre Pompidou X West Bund Museum Project, Shanghai, China 2020 Values of Design: China in the Making, Design Society, Shenzhen, China 2019 Future and the Arts: AI, Robotics, Cities, Life - How Humanity Will Live Tomorrow, Mori Art Museum,Tokyo, Japan 2019 MAD X, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France 2018 Tunnel of Light, Echigo Tsumari Art Field Triennale, Japan 2018 Fifth Ring, Milan Design Week, Milan, Italy 2018 Reconstructing Utopia, OCT Art and Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China 2018 Brazil Curitiba Biennale, Curitiba, Brazil 2017 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, Shanghai, China 2017 MAD Martian, Design Miami, Basel, Switzerland 2017 New Museums: Intentions, Expectations, Challenges, Art Centre Basel, Basel, Switzerland 2017 Beazley Designs of the Year, Design Museum, London, UK 2016 Zai Xing Tu Mu. Sixteen Chinese Museums, Fifteen Chinese Architects, Aedas Architecture Forum, Berlin, Germany 2016 Towards a Critical Pragmatism: Contemporary Architecture in China, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Boston, USA 2016 Invisible Border, Milan Design Week, Milan, Italy 2016 Micro Garden, 15th Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice, Italy 2015 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, Shenzhen, China 2015 Architecture for Dogs, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China 2014 Chengnan Project: Qianmen Xianyukou Masterplan, Beijing Center of the Arts (BCA), Beijing, China 2014 Shanshui City Exhibition, Solo Exhibition, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, China 2014 "The Changing Skyline", Beijing Design Week, Beijing, China 2014 "Future Cities — High Mountain, Flowing Water" China Shan-Shui City Design Exhibition, Berlin, Germany 2014 Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection, Hong Kong, China 2013 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, Shenzhen, China 2013 West Bund 2013: A Biennial of Architecture and Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China 2013 Palace of China – Architecture China 2013 exhibition, Segovia, Spain 2013 Shanshui City Exhibition, Solo Exhibition, Beijing, China 2012 Between the Modernity and Tradition, Solo Exhibition, ICO Museum, Madrid, Spain 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, Shenzhen, China 2011 Beijing Design week, Beijing, China 2011 Chengdu Biennale: Changing Vistas: Creative Duration, Chengdu, China 2011 Living, The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen Denmark 2011 Verso Est: Chinese Architectural Landscape, MAXXI, Rome, Italy 2010 Rising East: New Chinese Architecture, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany 2010 Feelings Are Facts, Olafur Eliasson+Ma Yansong, UCCA, Beijing, China 2009 Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA 2008 Super Star, A Mobile China Town, Uneternal City, 11th Venice Architecture Exhibition, Italy 2008 China Design Now, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK 2007 MAD IN CHINA, solo exhibition, Danish Architecture Centre (DAC), Copenhagen, Denmark 2006 Shanghai Art Biennale, Shanghai, China 2006 MAD IN CHINA, Solo exhibition, Diocesi Museum, Venice, Italy 2006 MAD Under Construction, Solo Exhibition, Tokyo Gallery, Beijing, China 2004 1st Architecture Biennial Beijing, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

Quotes RIBA President Ruth Reed, in the jury report for the 2010 RIBA international Fellowship: "Ma Yansong is a young Chinese architect – just 35 – who has come to architectural maturity at a time when his country is beginning to allow the freedom of expression so vital to the artist and sufficient freedom to the economy to allow his ideas to be realized as buildings. His work expresses the tension between the individual imagination and the needs of society as a whole."