Responsibly MAD, Unintentionally Harmonic
December 3rd 2009 14:28
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It's not very often you come across an architectural company that is committed to innovation first and foremost, and so it is with great pleasure that I dote on MAD Design for today.
From their 'About' section:
MAD is a Beijing-based design office dedicated to innovation in architectural practice, landscape design and urban planning. MAD develops its unique concept of futurism through a persistent investigation of the symbiotic potentials amid nature and technology. MAD aspires to design in close harmony with nature, offering people the freedom to develop independent urban experiences.
MAD's ongoing projects include: Absolute Towers in Toronto, Canada (an international competition won by MAD in 2006), Sinosteel International Plaza in Tianjin, China (a 358 meter high rise building), Erdos Museum in Erdos, Inner Mongolia, Guardian Art Center in Beijing, China, Taichung Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan, Urban Forest in Chongqing, China, as well as varied large scale public complexes and residential housing projects in Denmark, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Costa Rica.
I believe 'being crazy.. with a design' is the best way to make a useful contribution to modern day life.
China never fails to amaze me with its audaciously inventive architectural projects, and I hope that this is a sign that Beijing is trying to catch up to Shanghai in terms of postmodern and unconventional urban design. MAD exhibits outstanding versatility, embracing the environment of Inner Mongolia as enthusiastically as that of Copenhagen or Dubai, to great (and often shiny) effect.
Some pictures of their projects, current and proposed, can be found below.
And last but not least, take a look at this amazing proposal for a Redesigned World Trade Centre in New York City:
You can find many other intriguing images on their website, including pics of these buildings/visualisations from different perspectives. If you love MAD, you might also like to check out what Atkins Design is doing now... remember how I wrote about them a few years ago?
And now that you're thinking (even more) creatively, check out inbflat.net, which consists of twenty different musical recordings captured on video - you can create your own musical masterpiece in the key of B flat by mixing and matching different sounds, pausing and playing each video however you like.
I find this collaborative spectacle fascinating: Each contributant leaves their inimitable mark, awaiting fusion, re-imagining and re-engagement. One text has the power to bring out sides of another in ways unimagined by either texts at the point of their inception. The viewer is given raw data with to interact with and manipulate to their own taste. How cool is that?
Could we call it a 20-way mash-up? A genre-hopping extravaganza? The future of online creativity?
What do you think?
From their 'About' section:
MAD is a Beijing-based design office dedicated to innovation in architectural practice, landscape design and urban planning. MAD develops its unique concept of futurism through a persistent investigation of the symbiotic potentials amid nature and technology. MAD aspires to design in close harmony with nature, offering people the freedom to develop independent urban experiences.
MAD's ongoing projects include: Absolute Towers in Toronto, Canada (an international competition won by MAD in 2006), Sinosteel International Plaza in Tianjin, China (a 358 meter high rise building), Erdos Museum in Erdos, Inner Mongolia, Guardian Art Center in Beijing, China, Taichung Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan, Urban Forest in Chongqing, China, as well as varied large scale public complexes and residential housing projects in Denmark, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Costa Rica.
I believe 'being crazy.. with a design' is the best way to make a useful contribution to modern day life.
China never fails to amaze me with its audaciously inventive architectural projects, and I hope that this is a sign that Beijing is trying to catch up to Shanghai in terms of postmodern and unconventional urban design. MAD exhibits outstanding versatility, embracing the environment of Inner Mongolia as enthusiastically as that of Copenhagen or Dubai, to great (and often shiny) effect.
Some pictures of their projects, current and proposed, can be found below.
The Absolute Towers in Toronto, Canada - Spicing up Western uniformity with sleek Chinese curves
Tokyo Island Resort, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ergos Museum, Inner Mongolia, China
Residential apartments, Beihai, China
Culture Park, Changsha, China
Multi-purpose complex, Taichung, Taiwan - is this a pragmatic business transaction or a gesture of MAD's acceptance of Taiwan's autonomy and a desire to beautify it on Taiwan's own terms?
Chongqing, China
800M Tower in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Huongluo Clubhouse, Beijing
Xiamen Museum, Xiamen, Fujian, China
Hutong Bubble Interior, Beijing
And last but not least, take a look at this amazing proposal for a Redesigned World Trade Centre in New York City:
You can find many other intriguing images on their website, including pics of these buildings/visualisations from different perspectives. If you love MAD, you might also like to check out what Atkins Design is doing now... remember how I wrote about them a few years ago?
And now that you're thinking (even more) creatively, check out inbflat.net, which consists of twenty different musical recordings captured on video - you can create your own musical masterpiece in the key of B flat by mixing and matching different sounds, pausing and playing each video however you like.
I find this collaborative spectacle fascinating: Each contributant leaves their inimitable mark, awaiting fusion, re-imagining and re-engagement. One text has the power to bring out sides of another in ways unimagined by either texts at the point of their inception. The viewer is given raw data with to interact with and manipulate to their own taste. How cool is that?
Could we call it a 20-way mash-up? A genre-hopping extravaganza? The future of online creativity?
What do you think?
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