Archinect - News

MAD's latest project, MoLo, will serve as the gateway to Milan's burgeoning Innovation District

2022-08-03T19:20:00-04:00

Fresh off the firm’s debut public housing effort in Beijing, MAD Architects has unveiled project renders for a commercial complex at the edge of Milan’s Innovation District called MoLo (short for Mobility and Logistics Hub). According to the firm, the new hub will serve as a “monumental gateway” to the city’s burgeoning high-tech economic zone.

The design for MoLo includes a five-story car park, said to be the hub's "centerpiece." Amplifying their focus and commitment to sustainability, the complex will house 8,000 square meters (or 86,111 square feet) of photovoltaic panels atop a two-story commercial center. The team from MAD shares, "The MoLo was designed to perform as a welcoming entrance and education space for issues related to mobility in which visitors can drop off their cars to explore the district on foot and see innovative transportation technology in person."

Image render courtesy of MAD.

Continuing with their focus on nature-centered designs, as seen in the studio’s Gard...

MAD LA: Ma Yansong and Los Angeles

2020-04-02T12:08:00-04:00

Ma, who makes his home in Pacific Palisades, is in fact a superstar in his native country, China, where he has completed skyscrapers, opera houses, museums, apartments and entire neighborhoods. But both there and here, like a quiet, mysterious character in one of Lucas’ tales (Boba Fett comes to mind), he hovers in the background, nonetheless wielding enormous power.

The Los Angeles Times today published a Sam Lubell profile of Ma Yansong, founder and creative mind of of Beijing- and LA-based MAD Architects.

Rendering courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

Yansong talks about his under-construction Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, the Gardenhouse residential complex in Beverly Hills, reaction to criticism, inspiration by nature and movies, and why he actually doesn't like talking at all.

"I don’t know why artists need to talk so much," he says in the piece. "I think my work can speak for me."

Related reading: Archinect's conversation, A new nature: Interview with Ma Yansong of MAD Architecture

MAD's quirky Beverly Hills 'Gardenhouse' tops out

2018-07-05T18:33:00-04:00

MAD Architects, headquartered in Beijing, is making progress on its first U.S. project, Gardenhouse in Beverly Hills (first announced on Archinect in 2015). The playful 18-unit residential project along Wilshire Boulevard just topped out and aims for completion before the end of the year—then expected to sport an enormous wrap-around outdoor living wall facade with native, drought-tolerant succulents and vines.

Image: MAD Architects

"The 'hillside village' offers a variety of different housing typologies – three townhouses, two studios, five villas and eight condominiums – that are arranged to cultivate a private neighborhood feeling in the middle of the city," reads the project description.

Image: MAD Architects

"Individual balconies and patios extend out over an inner courtyard that allows villa residents to at once, enjoy the nature and independence from neighbors. There is also a balance between public and private as the housing appears opaque from the street but reveals a transp...

MAD unveils "hillside village" project for Beverly Hills

2015-06-21T08:00:00-04:00

MAD Architects is making their U.S. residential debut with the unveiling of 8600 Wilshire, which is scheduled to break ground along Wilshire Boulevard in the one and only Beverly Hills this October. Described by the architects like an oasis-like 'hillside village', the stark-white glass villas and lush greenery can easily appeal to the well-to-do 90210 crowd as California's drought persists.

With a site area of 25,900 sq.ft, the mixed-use project consists of a cluster of 18 residential units nestled above a lush green commercial building covered in a "living wall" of California-native succulents and vines. The project 'mimics a small sinuous white hill' so as to complement the rolling landscape of Beverly Hills.

From the street, the villas appear opaque but reveal a transparent façade that faces toward the private garden and neighboring residential units inside. Housing types include three townhouses, five villas, two studios, and eight condominiums, including individual balcony-pa...