The architect banishing straight lines from China’s cities

Chinese skylines have been subjected to tremendous change over the past decade. Heritage sites and huge swaths of traditional housing have been razed and replaced with soaring towers symbolizing wealth, development and power.

With hundreds of millions of people set to migrate from rural areas to cities by 2020 as part of the Chinese government’s ambitious urbanization program, the number of skyscrapers built to accommodate them will continue to grow – but not necessarily in an imaginative way.

Fake Hills (2015), Beihai, China —

Located in the oceanfront of Southern China, this vast residential complex combines high rise structure and undulating typology, aiming for a high-density solution.

Urban Forest (2009), Chongqing, China —

The design for Urban Forest is intended to integrate nature with "stacked" open floors and areas that include patios and sky gardens.

Urban Forest (2009), Chongqing, China —

Floor to ceiling glass windows provide a panoramic view of the city.

Ordos Museum (2011), Inner Mongolia, China —

The polished bronze metal facade of the Ordos Museum is intended to represent the rising sun over the surrounding grasslands.

Ordos Museum (2011), Inner Mongolia, China —

Influenced by Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes, the architects designed a form of abstract container to protect the interior from its harsh local climate.

Nanjing Zendai Himalays Center (2017), Nanjing, China —

The Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center embodies the Chinese notion of "shanshui," meaning mountain and water. The building responds to the surrounding mountains and rivers while meeting the material needs of urban life.

Nanjing Zendai Himalays Center (2017), Nanjing, China —

Curvaceous glass walls flow like waterfalls and corridors and paths weave through the complexes, creating a poetic movement.

Nanjing Zendai Himalays Center (2017), Nanjing, China —

The project is on track to be completed in 2017.

Absolute Towers (2012), Mississauga, Canada —

Located at the intersection of two main streets, the Absolute Towers are one of the city's well-known landmarks.

Absolute Towers (2012), Mississauga, Canada —

The Absolute Towers look as if they are "rotating", depending on your vantage point.

Absolute Towers (2012), Mississauga, Canada —

The buildings' curvaceous form has been likened to Marilyn Monroe.

Harbin Opera House (2015), Harbin, China —

The Harbin Opera House effortlessly blends in with its surroundings in the untamed northern region.

Harbin Opera House (2015), Harbin, China —

Made of white aluminum panels and glass pyramids, the opera house references the snow and ice of Harbin's sub-zero climate.

Harbin Opera House (2015), Harbin, China —

With an interior sculpted from Manchurian Ash wood, its spatial arrangement offers world-class acoustics.

Huangshan Mountain Village (2015), Huangshan, China —

Located near the Huangshan Mountains in China's Anhui province, this village blurs the boundaries between modern architecture and nature.

Huangshan Mountain Village (2015), Huangshan, China —

The village faces the serene Taiping lake.

Huangshan Mountain Village (2015), Huangshan, China —

Its form blends seamlessly into the surrounding limestone cliffs.

UNIC, Paris —

The UNIC, still under construction, will be built in collaboration with the French architecture firm Biecher Architectes.

UNIC, Paris —

The 50-meters-tall building, situated in the neighborhood of Clichy-Batignolles, is made of 13 organically stacked terraces.

Chaoyang Park Plaza (2016), Beijing, China —

The Chaoyang Park Plaza, composed of over 120,000 square meters, took inspiration from Chinese classical landscape paintings, which often feature lakes, springs, forests, and stones.

Chaoyang Park Plaza (2016), Beijing, China —

Completed in 2016, the Chaoyang Park Plaza has green features such as natural lighting and a passive ventilation system integrated in the complex.

Chaoyang Park Plaza (2016), Beijing, China —

The smooth vertical lines flowing down the buildings resemble river stones that have been eroded over a long period of time.

China Wood Sculpture Museum (2013), Harbin, China —

The China Wood Sculpture Museum is an example of a sustainable design by MAD Architects. Solid walls help to save energy and retain heat.

China Wood Sculpture Museum (2013), Harbin, China —

Polished metal plates on the exterior mirror the city lights at night.

Hutong Bubble 32 (2009), Beijing, China —

This metallic bubble is located in one of Beijing's oldest neighborhoods.

Hutong Bubble 32 (2009), Beijing, China —

The Hutong Bubble, a designer outhouse with a single toilet and staircase, is part of an initiative to help the community.

'MAD' visions

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Utilitarian housing and office blocks are the hallmark of burgeoning cities in China. Megacities like Beijing are already overrun with them, creating cityscapes that feel “artificial,” as Beijing-based architect Ma Yansong observes.

“I think in our modern cities there are a lot of boxes; there are a lot of straight lines,” he says. “They often deal with efficiency, the function, the structure.

“There’s no nature. People love to go closer to nature and other people, so we need to create environments that let people have these emotional connections.”

Emotional architecture

Ma, the founder of the world-renowned MAD Architects, has built a poetic portfolio of buildings that adhere to his “Shanshui City” design philosophy. “Shanshui” which translates to “mountain, water” embraces the integration of organic forms and Eastern design principles, emphasizing nature at the core of urban planning.

New photos of MAD’s Huangshan Mountain Village, in China’s Anhui province, show an undulating range of apartment complexes, a nod to the nearby limestone terraces of Huangshan (“Yellow Mountain”).

MAD Architects completed the Huangshan Mountain Village in Anhui province, China in April, 2017.

The project consists of 10 buildings. The tallest building has 21 floors.

MAD's design approach views architecture as part of the landscape.

Views towards Lake Taiping.

Multiple levels resemble nearby tea terraces.

The project is near China's famous Mount Huangshan, which is a UNESCO Heritage site.

The idea of MAD's guiding "shanshui city" design philosophy (translated to "mountain-water") is to help shape people's emotional connection to nature.

The structures' curved, organic lines are designed to resemble the surrounding landforms.

The architects sought to design a high-density building that could co-exist with nature.

A rendering of Huangshan Mountain Village.

Huangshan Mountain Village

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In cities, Ma has often disrupted the usual “emotionless” lines and “industrial curves” to create structures influenced by Chinese classical paintings, the extreme curves of mountains, the gentle lines of the desert and even (in the case of the voluptuous Absolute Towers in Ontario, nicknamed “Marilyn”) the human body.

Future of cities

Although China was once considered to be an architect’s playground, the country’s economic slowdown – coupled with President Xi Jinping’s aversion to “weird architecture” – means that the future of its cities has yet to be written.

“In traditional cities like Beijing, Nanjing and Hangzhou, nature was a very important part of urban planning. Not only as a landscape, but a part of daily life,” Ma says. “It’s a beautiful garden, let’s say. But they were all low density.”

Ma wants to apply his Shanshui City philosophy to the expanding cities of the future.

“There must be some new way (in which) we can have high density and, at the same time, have a beautiful landscape in an urban situation.

“What if we treat the high-rise like a mountain, or we have gardens in the sky, or waterfalls? I think that’s the most challenging thing I want to try in my architecture.”

Watch the video above for an interview with the architect on why curves matter.