MAD Architects
MAD is an international architectural practice led by partners Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, and Yosuke Hayano. Which was, according to the firm's website, founded by Ma Yansong in 2004, with his partners Dang Qun and Yosuke Hayano. Ma Yansong had previously worked with Zaha Hadid, an experience that seemed to influence his later efforts. Today the firm maintains offices in Beijing, Los Angeles, and Rome, and were recently recognized as the Dezeen Magazine architects of the year for 2025.
The firm says this about their motivations:
MAD approaches architecture as a way to shape emotion and experience, embodying atmosphere, memory, and human connection. Each project is designed to deepen our relationship with the environment, community, and ourselves. MAD’s work responds to the subtle rhythms of urban life, the natural world, and human presence, creating spaces that are innovative, thoughtful, and alive with meaning.
Let’s take a look at few MAD projects:
The Absolute Towers, 2012
Today, this MAD design is generally known to the locals as the Marilyn Monroe towers, owing to their supposed resemblance to the curvaceous figure of the late Marilyn Monroe.
Ma Yansong Said:
These buildings celebrate the curve. They are about how a floor plate rotated around a central axis creates a sense of movement. The towers change as you travel around them; from every point of view, they are something different.
Harbin Opera House, Harbin, China -2015
The Harbin Opera House is a performing arts center in Harbin, China.
The online trade publication Architectural Review described the building:
Bursting forth from its wetland setting, MAD’s incongruous Harbin Opera House and urban park belie the exquisite spaces within
We recently posted about parametric architecture and its computational capabilities, which allow architects to design buildings in forms beyond square corners and straight edges. There are many opinions on the merits of curvilinear buildings resembling beehives or towers, evoking 20th-century Hollywood actresses, etc. But one thing is for sure, the Zaha Hadid, “queen of the curve” approach is a trend that is not yet dissipating. Young architects start their careers with a strong understanding of the innovative approaches computational design enables. Adding to this are the increasingly bold designs that clients are willing to discuss and eventually build.
One River North, Denver
One River North is in Denver’s River North neighborhood. It may also serve as a clear example of a client willing to take a chance on an atypical design. After all, there are not many glass facades that appear to have a mountain ravine carved in them.
One River North is located in Denver’s River North (RiNo) neighborhood and stands as a great example of a client willing to consider an unconventional architectural vision. After all, it is not every day that you encounter a glass-clad tower whose façade appears to have a mountain ravine carved directly through its center.
The architects had this to say:
A crack of natural terrain carves through the 16-story glass facade of One River North, (ORN), a mixed-use development near the center of Denver, Colorado’s River North Art District (RiNo)”
Quzhou Stadium, Quzhou China
The astute online publication, Archello described this MAD work below:
Built as the world’s largest earth-sheltered structure, spanning around 700,000 sqm, the Quzhou Stadium is the centrepiece of the Quzhou Sports Park in Zhejiang Province. The stadium’s undulating form mirrors the distant mountain ridge while its landscaping evokes a supernatural feature reminiscent of science fiction. Unlike the conventional fortress-like stadiums found in urban settings, MAD Architects strived to create a stadium that would integrate much of the technology that went into its manufacturing so that it could instead be open to the surrounding public space from practically every viewpoint.
The works of MAD follow a theme: their determined architectural creativity and technological competence find a brave and progressive client. And from where I sit, we are all the better for it.