Ma Yansong

“In China, we had some buildings that looked like the White House or wine bottles. All they seemed to represent was bad taste.”

“We proposed Tiananmen Square - this very empty political square in the city centre - should turn green. Maybe in the future, this space could become a very human and open urban space. And if that happens, I think that all the cities around China will follow to change.”

“I'm trying to create architecture as landscape. But I'm not copying nature.”

“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.”

“Early in my career, I tried to bring an artistic feeling to architecture. That's really the intent and impression of what I think about: context, space, shapes, and landscape.”

“We need to be brave and tell the politicians what a better future could be.”

“I don't like to talk about sustainability, because sometimes I see green buildings that don't appear any different from those in the past.”

“It's very strange: if you're a philosopher or musician or an artist, people automatically believe you can see the future. Even if they don't like you, they accept your vision as an individual.”

“Chaoyang Park Plaza is about how to carry the traditional culture into a new format in modern architecture. Instead of building a boundary between the city and the park, I tried to design this building to emerge from the natural landscape.”

“When we talk about a city, we need to talk about what the future is. Whats the ideal scenario in the future?”

“I would say that many architects are very logical. They start their process from analysis and from rational processes to try and find the 'right' answer, like solving a mathematic equation.”

“If you look at ancient Chinese paintings, you see mountains, but they are not real mountains; it is something the artists imagined.”

“When you look at classical structures, they're often linked to literature, music, or a poem. They were constructed by master builders, which means it's not something standard that you can copy.”

“We need to enter a new era to make nature and humans more emotionally connected in modern cities.”

“Instead of making grand structures and beautiful buildings, we should focus on the environment and the urban space and how you encourage people to live.”

“I grew up in Beijing, and there weren't many modern buildings during my childhood. I was influenced by traditional culture - the courtyards, the hutongs, the old city, and all the art forms - so, very naturally, I brought this to my practice.”

“People can live in nature, and they won't necessarily destroy it.”

“People think that buildings are permanent, but in China, this isn't true; we can always demolish and remake it better.”

“My first impression of Beverly Hills was that it had a landscape of small houses built by famous architects, so I didn't want to make a big block or sculpture here; I wanted to make a community rooted to the place.”

“The difficulty with big cities does not lie in skyscrapers or high-rises per se; rather, it is the values concealed within those buildings which lead to the loss of our humanity and our sense of spiritual emptiness.”