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" If we're talking about the urban landscape as an advanced, forward-thinking art form, there must be some intellectual thinking involved. "
Ma Yansong
Talking
Urban
Art
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" We try to turn buildings into landscapes - defying the idea of modernism which sees nature and buildings as two distinct elements. "
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" I'm trying to create architecture as landscape. But I'm not copying nature. "
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" The way a human can coexist with nature has to be at the spiritual level. "
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" When I started university, I didn't know much about architecture, so I flipped through a lot of magazines, looking at different and exciting images from all over the world. I thought that architecture could be interesting. "
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" 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. "
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" I think, in our modern cities, there are a lot of boxes; there are a lot of straight lines. They often deal with efficiency, the function, the structure. "
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" 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. "
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" Although we're architects, we believe we do culture; architecture is culture, and the topics we tackle will always arise a broader debate. "
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" China has some cities, traditional cities, with a long history. They are so beautiful, and they were planned so smartly. I call them gardens on the city scale. For example, Beijing has mountains, waters, lakes, bridges, towers. It was a very poetic city. "
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" 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. "
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" I think architects have a major role in being responsible for illustrating what the future could be. Because of the very strong political and commercial climate, many architects are trying very hard to solve everyday issues, to respond to the authorities. "
Ma Yansong
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" Architecture is a special kind of career that showcases the accumulations of culture, time, and history. "
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" I think where traditional values are concerned, Chinese people see nature as very symbolic. It's a form of culture. "
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" In the past, young, talented architects worked together to form a strong social agenda and communicate with a larger audience. That's what today's architecture community should be. "
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" When I graduated from high school, I thought I wanted to make science fiction movies, so I applied to film school, but I couldn't get in. A professor told me I should try architecture instead. "
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" People love to go closer to nature and other people, so we need to create environments that let people have these emotional connections. "
Ma Yansong
Need
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" I'm trying to express nature in big cities. "
Ma Yansong
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" 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. "
Ma Yansong
Famous
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Community
" Historically, sci-fi movies have played an important role in inspiring young people. "
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People
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Important
" I don't use tools to create things, but I use them to realize things. "
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Tools
Use
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" There must be a way to combine the high rise and high-density environment with nature. Maybe we can have our gardens in the sky. "
Ma Yansong
Sky
Way
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" 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 Yansong
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" 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. "
Ma Yansong
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" Sometimes I sketch and then scan my sketch directly to make the curves more freehand. I don't want to make perfect industrial curves. "
Ma Yansong
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" Since the Industrial Revolution, we tend to use technology to show our power: you know, we build high-rises, towers, big buildings that become symbols of power and capitalism. We don't talk about how emotions and nature can be connected. "
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" A lot of ancient poetry sees in nature a reflection of human emotions, and in a post-industrialized era, once people have become more aware of the necessity of a more harmonious relation between man and nature, we need to build cities which can connect with human spiritual needs instead of being merely functional. "
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" The shan-shui city idea is trying to bring traditional values and ways of living to modern high-rise architecture. "
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" Architects like to work in a problematic environment. "
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" In China, we had some buildings that looked like the White House or wine bottles. All they seemed to represent was bad taste. "
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" The beauty of architecture is it involves work that stretches over a very long time but often starts in one instant, with just one emotion, a kind of instinctual response. "
Ma Yansong
Work
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Long