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MAD's new Aranya 'Cloud Center' is floating into place in coastal China

2022-09-01T14:45:00-04:00

MAD Architects has shared new images and project details of its upcoming multipurpose Aranya "Cloud Center" in the port city of Qinhuangdao, China.

The firm says it is nearly complete with the construction phase that was begun in March 2021 in the coastal area roughly 160 miles east of Beijing.

Featuring a floating cloud-like grand hall, column-free gallery space, and theater, the 2,579-square-meter (27,760-square-foot) facility will serve as the centerpiece of a growing artistic community, attempting to blur the boundary between architecture and nature in a smart update to founder Ma Yansong’s well-established approach to the design of intimate spatial experiences.

Photo: Zhu Yumeng. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Photo: CreatAR. Image courtesy MAD Architects

Per the firm: "The Cloud Center is designated to have a singular architecture becoming the component to a larger context. With a reflective pond, a garden, and surrounding woods, the entirety forms a peaceful dreamscape envisi...

Construction update: Three new buildings by Safdie Architects represent the legacy of Habitat 67

2021-08-14T09:00:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has an update on three ongoing projects it says are direct ties to the lineage of founder Moshe Safdie’s seminal work that opened 54 years ago in Montreal.

New buildings in Ecuador and Sri Lanka are nearing completion, and a new development is about to break ground on the next phase of a contemporary version of the Habitat in Qinhuangdao, China.

Qinhuangdao Phase II. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

The three projects together represent “the realization of more than 50 years of study on how to improve urban living.” Each development is marked with the same stepped profile, privacy, and garden terrace design taken from the original Habitat. The sum total is a reflection of the eye-opening realizations about urban life the 83-year-old Safdie says were brought on by the pandemic.

Qinhuangdao Phase II. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Per the architect: “Over the past year, there has been a rediscovery of the interdependence between nature and society. We have seen an outcr...

MAD unveils plans for the new Aranya 'Cloud Center'

2021-07-06T17:43:00-04:00

A new multipurpose development is taking shape in Qinhuangdao, China, bringing a “floating cloud by the sea” thanks to a plan by MAD, unveiled this week, that will add 2,500 square meters of swirling new public space to the city’s coastal community of Aranya.

Having already broken ground in March, residents of the region will soon enjoy a new center for conferences, performances, and more housed in a flexible columnless interior space complete with a theater space wrapped in a unique white stained glass facade.

Image courtesy MAD Architects

Viewed from above, the project’s footprint takes on a futuristic shape thanks to a white boundary wall and undulated landscape with painted rocks meant to resemble interstellar constellations. From the ground, a more atmospheric feel finally takes full form, with an articulated cloud-like structure sitting atop a circular glazed core that adds a floating quality to visitors who enter the space’s foyer through a long re...

Whatever happened to China's futuristic Traffic Elevated Bus?

2016-12-09T13:32:00-05:00

China's once-celebrated Traffic Elevated Bus (TEB) has been left abandoned in the middle of a Hebei city road, not having moved once in over two months. Originally touted as the futuristic solution to urban traffic jams, the "straddling bus" is currently causing them. A local reporter recently checked up on "the future of public transportation" at its testing site in Qinhuangdao, only to find it forgotten in a rusted garage, covered in dust.

"To test its invention, the company actually leased part of a city road in Qinhuangdao. Since the bus now remains exactly where it was abandoned , it continues to block three lanes of traffic, annoying residents to no end."

The 'road-straddling bus' previously in the Archinect news: Public transit boon or boondoggle? China tests out its road-straddling bus

Public transit boon or boondoggle? China tests out its road-straddling bus

2016-08-03T13:21:00-04:00

Just months after its spectacular design was unveiled, the Transit Explore Bus had its inaugural run this week on 300 metres of specially constructed test track in Qinhuangdao [...] The vehicle, which goes up to 60km/h (37mph), runs on tracks with passenger spaces standing two metres above the road so that two lanes of cars can pass undisturbed underneath, helping to alleviate the notorious traffic jams of China’s biggest cities.

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